Education in the islands in earlier periods was confined to the teaching of Quran in schools attached to the mosques. In these schools called Madrassas, the Malayalam language was also taught in Arabic scripts. Only few could read and write and neither their isolated position nor any of their avocations made much call for education.
The question of providing education to the people of Amindivi islands, which came under the British government as early as 1799, was taken up only in 1871. Several measures taken up thereafter did not bring in the desired results.