In the subcontinent, during ancient times,coeducation was present at a few places.but,gradually girls education begin to be ignored.the educational system of that time was quite different from that of today.boys were sent to gurukuls where they spent most of their educational period.they were imparted physical and academic education.the former included warfare training while,the latter comprised of study of scriptures.in medieval india, women and people belonging to lower caste were forbidden from reading the scriptures. However,raja ramohan roy,the great social reformer revolted against this practice.his succesors also played a pivotal role in revolting against the illiterate practices.
Islam has stressed upon the importance of education.infact, the first word revealed was “iqra” translated as” to read”. islam has ordained both men and women to acquire education. Holy prophet P.B.U.H said “acquire education from cradle to grave”.similarly,islam also acknowledges that an illiterate and an educated man can never be equal.During the time of Holy Prophet(P.B.U.H),mosques were the only educational institutions.there are no instances recorded where holy prophet P.B.U.H