It can not be said that there was no education in Rwanda before 1900. Indeed, there were no schools as we know them to day, but Rwanda had its own education system. In practice, the Rwandan youth learnt everything concerning life at the traditional school. The education institution was essentially the family where young girls learnt the household management skills from their mothers while the boys acquired the wisdom of life from their fathers.

Besides the family education, there existed other institutions of training and apprenticeship such as the « amatorero » or night vigils. These were training sessions whose objectives were to introduce precious trades and skills to the youth. These trades included the military and war skills, iron smith and foundry, poetry, basket making, etc. During the apprenticeship or training sessions, the youth were also initiated to traditional rites and sexual education (for instance, gukuna) as well as religions customs and rites such as « guterekera and kubandwa » which implied honouring the dead, as well as other many customs. The traditional school extended from the village to the Royal Court