The history of education in Africa can be roughly divided into pre- and post- colonial periods. Since the introduction of formal education to Africa by European colonists, African education, particularly in West and Central Africa, is characterised by both traditional African teachings and European-style schooling systems. The state of education reflects not only the effects of colonialism, but instability resulting from and exacerbated by armed conflicts in many regions of Africa as well as fallout from humanitarian crises such as famine, lack of drinking water, and outbreaks of diseases such as malaria and Ebola, among others. Although the quality of education and the quantity of well-equipped schools and teachers has steadily increased since the onset of the colonial period, there are still evident numerous inequalities in the existing educational systems based on region, economic status, and gender. List of African countries by level of literacy This entry includes a definition of literacy and UNESCO's percentage estimates for populations aged 15 years and over, including total population, males, and females. History Education in Precolonial Africa Precolonial Africa was made up of ethnic groups and states that embarked on migrations depending on seasons, availability of fertile soil, and political circumstances. Therefore, power was decentralized among several states in precolonial Africa ( many people held some form of authority as such power was not concentrated in a particular person or an institution). Usually, a person's entitlement to land (which were mostly given patriarchally) gives the person some form of power within the person's household and or within the person's ethnic group. Households were also economically independent such that members of a household produced their own food, shelter and security. There was, therefore, no need for a formally organized education in certain pre-colonial African states, as members of each household learned their skills, values, responsibilities, socialization and norms of their community or household by observing and assisting older household members or community members. State-organized formal schools existed among Sahelian kingdoms in West Africa. Education in many precolonial African states was in the form of apprenticeship, which was a form of informal education, where children and or younger members of each household mostly learned from older members of their household, and community. In most cases, each household member learned more than one skills in addition to learning the values, socialization, and norms of the community/tribe/household. Some of the common skills that people in precolonial Africa