by S.E. Gunn PhD, All News Pipeline:
Education has been a mainstay around the world and throughout time. In the past, schooling took place in the home, on the job, and/or in the religious realm. Wikipedia provides a succinct history of pre-modern-age education throughout the world:
The history of education, like other history, extends at least as far back as the first written records recovered from ancient civilizations. Historical studies have included virtually every nation. The earliest known formal school was developed in Egypt’s Middle Kingdom under the direction of Kheti, treasurer to Mentuhotep II (2061-2010 BC). In ancient India, education was mainly imparted through the Vedic and Buddhist education system, while the first education system in ancient China was created in Xia dynasty (2076–1600 BC). In the city-states of ancient Greece, most education was private . . . The first schools in Ancient Rome arose by the middle of the 4th century BC. In Europe, during the Early Middle Ages, the monasteries of the Roman Catholic Church were the centers of education and literacy, preserving the Church’s selection from Latin learning and maintaining the art of writing. In the Islamic civilization that spread all the way between China and Spain during the time between the 7th and 19th centuries, Muslims started schooling from 622 in Medina, which is now a city in Saudi Arabia, schooling at first was in the mosques (masjid in Arabic) but then schools became separate in schools next to mosques. . . . Most schools during this era were founded upon religious principles with the primary purpose of training the clergy. [Emphasis added]