Free education from nursery school through university was a major reason for Guyana's 1990 around literacy rate of 96 %, one of the highest in the Western Hemisphere. As of 1985, the average worker in Guyana had completed 6.8 years of schooling. Families of all ethnic groups and classes took interest in the schooling of their children, and education reform has had a central place in government policy since the 1960s.

In the 1995 school year 100,300 pupils were listed in 422 elementary schools in Guyana. Secondary, technical, and teacher-training institutions had a total of 62,000 students. The nation’s principal institution of higher education is the University of Guyana (1963), in Georgetown.