Education is the way humanity passes on all it has learned from one generation to the next.
Also, educated women with a decent role in society have fewer children, so population growth is checked. Yet simply having some sort of education is not the whole answer. The nature of what and how you learn is also important. Learning about other cultures allows you to understand your own better and encourages you to build on the good in each. Gabonais, Zairois, Burkinabese, Togolese and others come because it is so good.