In this painting of a kuttab, or primary school, boys sit on a mat or carpet huddled close together with their writing boards. Boys, and sometimes girls, learned to recite the Qur'an at an early age, as well as the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic in schools called kuttabs. It might be held in a mosque, a building especially for the purpose, or an open courtyard, as in West Africa. This type of school was common in urban and rural settings throughout Muslim lands. The image by 13th century illustrator al-Wasiti (fl. 1237) is from the Maqamat (Assemblies) of al-Hariri (1054-1122 CE), an important figure in Arabic literature. The work is a collection of anecdotes about a picaresque hero, shown in the red robe, who perhaps having just said something outrageous, is shown disputing with the teacher. An interesting feature in several illustrations of kuttabs is the fan suspended from the ceiling, with one of the boys pulling a rope to swing it. Perhaps the boy chosen for this task was the one least proficient in his lessons.

This public building of Mamluk Cairo in Egypt has two functions. Its lower level housed a sabil, or fountain, for dispensing water to thirsty travelers and denizens of the city, and its upper level was a public primary school for the teaching of Qur'an, called a kuttab. Kuttab schools taught basic literacy skills such as arithmetic and grammar along with recitation of the Qur'an needed to perform Islamic prayers. The building was open to air and light on three façades. The sabil featured copper grillwork windows through which cups of water could be passed by an attendant inside, or passers-by could enter the cool interior with decorative tiles.

Pupils entered the building and climbed a stone stairway to the kuttab. They entered the rectangular schoolroom to sit on woven mats while the teacher likely sat on the raised platform that surrounded the room on three sides. A balcony projects slightly over the street, shaded by a large wooden awning. Delicate, turned-wooden pillars form 15 arches connected by balustrades and carved wooden screens called mashrabiyya. Clay water jugs cooled the drinking water in the breeze created by the mashrabiyya, a typical Middle Eastern architectural feature. The schoolroom walls were open to the street but screened from the sun and activity, making it an inviting, pleasant place to learn. Passers-by could take pleasure in hearing the children recite the Qu'an in unison. The construction of this significant building in 1748 CE is credited to Abd al-Rahman Katkhuda, Overseer of Awqaf (Charitable Endowments), who was associated with many Cairo monuments of the period.

Below are two tables that reveal both the accomplishments and the limitations of Meiji educational reforms. Table 1 shows an impressive increase in the number of schools and the enrollment rates for both girls and boys, one that culminates in 1905 with near-universal enrollment rates. Table 2, however, reveals the fact that enrollment rates and attendance rates were not identical. In this particular elementary school, the average daily attendance rate dropped sharply at two times: in winter, when severe weather made commuting difficult, and in summer, when children were expected to perform agricultural work for the family. While this table shows statistics for only one village, similar patterns prevailed throughout rural Japan well into the 1920s and 1930s. These patterns suggest the difficulties that governments encounter when they attempt to implement compulsory schooling. Schooling involves a basic change in the patterns of childhood and the family economy. For most families, sending children to school all day for most of the year involved a significant loss of available labor for household tasks, as well as a change in the schedules and rhythms of family life. Even when parents began to send their children to school, they often did so only insofar as it conformed to those schedules and rhythms.

A state-funded, secular elementary education system was established in the colony of New Zealand in 1870, but the compulsory attendance provisions for 7 to 13-year-olds were not rigorously enforced, for Maori and Pakeha children alike, until the first decade of the 20th century. By then, complementary legislation, such as laws governing the minimum age for employment in factories and shops, helped to improve attendance, particularly amongst older children. There was no "social promotion"—every student had to demonstrate understanding and competence at each level before moving upwards through the primary school system. The annual visitation of the school inspector was generally a cause for widespread apprehension amongst pupils, most of whom failed to realize that their teachers were often far more worried than they were, since salaries were linked to attendance figures as well as examination results.

The advent of refrigerated shipping in 1882 led to a transformation in the colonial economy. Exports of meat, butter, and cheese could now complement the former dependence on wool. The Liberal Government, sworn into office in 1890, strongly endorsed the notion of family farms and embarked upon an intensified Maori land purchase policy to open up land that was deemed suitable for dairying. The province of Taranaki became one of the principal dairy farming areas of the colony. Few small-scale farmers could afford to employ labor. Women and children helped with the herding and hand-milking of the cows. Teachers despaired. Many of their pupils would fall asleep at the uncomfortable desks. Others were so fatigued from the early morning rising and milking that they absorbed very little of their lessons. Education authorities railed against the problem yet also recognized its complexity.