Way back in Greece of the 3rd century BC, the role of definitive national
philosophy of education as a basis for teaching of young people was recognized
and effectively applied. Nations in the contemporary world that have recognized
the need for a definitive national philosophy of education as the springboard for
national development appear to be at the forefront of development and those with
vague national philosophies of education appear to experience developmental
problems. This paper attempts a comparative study of some national philosophies
of education and how they have impacted on development effort. It submits that
developing countries should make effort to adopt focused national philosophies
of education and suggests self-reliance with entrepreneurship at the core as one
of such.