The educational process as formalized through schools and colleges is at the heart of civilization. Moreover, throughout history, knowledge has been universal. Only with the age of nationalism and imperialism was knowledge invested with hard boundaries. In fact, knowledge has never recognized boundaries, but rather defied all notions, past and present, of civilizations clashing. The roots of Greek civilization lay deep in Africa.
History is witness to the fact that ambitions, interests and, sometimes, ideologies clash.
Civilizations rarely do. In fact, they are based on the exchange of knowledge and artistic influence and, in turn, nurtured by that exchange. The crisis in education in the third world is, above all, a crisis of priorities facing States with increasing responsibilities in an era of decreasing resources. This is partly a problem of history. Third world plans of education were drawn up, by and large, by colonial Powers whose outlook and needs were different from those of sovereign States in the last years of the twentieth century.