Cart before the Horse. Without an education, people cannot work productively, care for their health, sustain and protect themselves and their families or live culturally enriched lives. But the relationship between education and economic growth is complicated. African capitals are full of college-educated people who can produce very little in their corrupt, statist economies. Western Europe, North America, and Hong Kong all saw rapid economic growth before education became widespread.
Prosperous people can afford to give their children more education.
But their high literacy rates obviously did not pull the communist countries out of poverty. Back in May 1998, the same Ms. Bellamy visited Afghanistan, where the militantly Islamic Taliban government has banned the education of girls. She learned that in some poor Afghan villages women teachers have set up alternative schools to teach girls without the approval of the government. And in neighboring Pakistan, villagers who are often themselves illiterate are pooling small amounts of money to hire teachers without help from the government in Islamabad. Carol Bellamy pooh-poohed their efforts and told them that providing education is the responsibility of central government.