It is widely known and accepted that Portugal is "the least educated country in Europe", and has remained so for hundreds of years, besides another severe setback relative to other Western countries during the Salazar years.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748704076804576180522989644198 "The repressive dictatorship that ruled Portugal from 1926 to 1974 had the idea "that people should not have ambition to be something different than what they were," Mr. Nóvoa says. The result was widespread illiteracy and little formal schooling; just three years were compulsory. Huge leaps have been made since the 1970s, he says, but "it is not easy to change a history of five centuries.""
