Even before Portugal emerged as an independent nation in the twelfth century, it had monastic, cathedral, and parish schools. The education provided by these schools was based on the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, rote memorization, and a deductive system of reasoning. The educational system expanded through the founding of primary and secondary schools in larger settlements and the establishment in 1290 of the University of Coimbra, one of the oldest universities in the world. The system was infused with the principles of authority, hierarchy, and discipline. Although local authorities, both municipal and ecclesiastical, had some say about the management of local schools, officials in Lisbon, most of them clerics, determined the curriculum and selected textbooks and instructors. Education was thus firmly under the control of the church and civil authorities. The introduction of the Inquisition in the 1530s served to further "purify" teaching; in 1555 the Jesuits were given much control over education.

Portuguese primary school enrollments were close to 100 % in the early 1990s, and immense strides had been made in eliminating illiteracy, particularly among the young and an around literacy rate of 85 % was achieved among those over age fifteen in 1990. After primary school, school enrollments dropped off sharply. Only 30 % of children attended secondary schools, and only 20 % were listed in the twelfth grade.

As of the early 1990s, Portugal still had an illiteracy rate that ranged between 14 and 20 % according to various studies and estimates, although many of those who could not read were older people. Another serious problem was low school enrollment after the primary cycle, particularly in rural areas, where many children began work at an early age. As of 1987, 87.4 % of Portuguese completed less than the upper level of secondary school, a rate that had improved only slightly in recent decades, and was much inferior to the EC average of 54 %. Facilities and equipment at all levels were often outdated and in short supply. Although the number of school teachers had increased greatly in recent years, teachers were poorly paid, and their overall morale was poor. Many specialists held that the curriculum at the secondary level needed to be revised to make it more revelant in preparing young people for their working lives. In addition to more modern facilities, the universities needed to increase their enrollments and support research more strongly.Education is free and compulsory between the ages of 6 and 15. Secondary education is voluntary.In the 1993-1994 school year Portugal had 12,472 primary schools attended by 929,471 pupils and staffed by 76,444 teachers. The nation’s general and vocational education secondary schools had about 938,700 students.