Education Is a Political Issue

The model that held the distinction between education and politics to be plausible and even indispensable had given way to the aspirations of formerly colonised countries, which had undergone an education imbued with politics under the auspices of the civilising mission of the empires, which were now confronted with their abuses. By taking their own places and speaking in these forums, the new countries demonstrated that the problems addressed and the solutions proposed were far from being as universal as the IBE and UNESCO proclaimed. This tension translated into an open conflict about the misdeeds of an alienating colonial enterprise, which was considered to violate the very dignity of man. In the case of Portugal, its former African colonies demanded its exclusion.