African access to educational opportunities was highly limited for most of the colonial time. Until the 1950s, facilities run by the government were few and largely limited to urban areas. Responsibility for educating Africans rested with Roman Catholic and Protestant missions. As a consequence, each of the missions accomplished its own school system, although all were subject to ultimate control by the Portuguese with respect to certain policy matters.

Education beyond the primary level was available to very few Africans before 1960, and the proportion of the age group that went on to secondary school in the early 1970s was still quite low. Primary school attendance was growing substantially.

Education is free and compulsory for children between the ages of 7 and 15. under colonial rule education was irregular and not well-supported, and the adult literacy rate was only 16 % at independence. With national freedom came educational reforms, including instruction in indigenous languages and a national literacy campaign.