In my lifetime, Cyprus, the island I was born and raised on, has been transformed from a place where, under British rule, only offered basic education to its inhabitants, with secondary education having to be paid for, to a centre for advanced education and learning that attracts students from all over the world who wish to study in institutions that enjoy international acclaim for their excellence.
I quite often run into young people from European, Asian and even countries from the American continent that are studying to be doctors, architects, archaeologists, dentists, biologists and almost every other field of science and technology on the tiny island of Cyprus.
After Cyprus achieved its independence from Colonial Britain in 1960, emphasis was given to education. The first institute for Higher learning to be established, was the Pedagogical Academy that churned out teachers. Something that was in short supply at the time.
In the last few decades, Cyprus has gone from a country where a vast portion of the population was illiterate, to one high on the list of countries whose citizens have achieved University level education.
In fact, Cyprus has the second-highest tertiary educational attainment rate in the EU.