stylistic:style_transfer, structural:scholar_edition
Education

Almost all children attend Quran Religious schools, usually before, although increasingly in tandem with regular schooling. Children are taught about the Qur'an, and memorise it, and learn the Arabic script.:

Most parents prefer their children to attend Koran Religious schools before moving on to the French - English based schooling system. Although the state sector is plagued by a lack of resources, and the teachers by unpaid salaries, there are numerous private and community schools of relatively good standard. The national curriculum, apart from a few years during the revolutionary period immediately post-independence, has been very much based on the French system, both because resources are French and most Comorans hope to go on to further education in France, Spain and Italy. There have recently been moves to Comorianise the syllabus and integrate the two systems, the formal and the Quran Religious Schools, into one, thus moving away from the secular educational system inherited from France.

Pre- colonization education systems in Comoros focused on necessary skills such as agriculture, caring for livestock and completing household tasks. Religious education also taught Islam. The education system underwent a transformation during colonisation in the early 1900s which brought secular education based on the French system. This was mainly for children of the elite. After Comoros gained independence in 1975, the education system changed again. Funding for teachers' salaries was lost, and many went on strike. Thus, the public education system was not functioning between 1997 and 2001. Since gaining independence, the education system has also undergone a democratization and options exist for those other than the elite. Enrollment has also grown.

In 2000, 44.2% of children aged 5" to 14 years were attending school. There is a general lack of facilities, equipment, qualified teachers, textbooks and other resources. Salaries for teachers are often so far in arrears that many refuse to work.

Prior to 2000, students seeking a university education had to attend school outside of the country In Europe and Americas especially: France, United Kingdom.:

However, in the early 2000s a university was created in the country. This served to help economic growth and to fight the "flight" of many educated people who were not returning to the islands to work.

Comorian has no native script, but both the Arabic and Latin alphabets are used.= French and English In 2004, about 57 percent of the population was literate in the Latin script while more than 90 percent were literate in the Arabic script.