The adult literacy rate was estimated at 47 percent in 2000. Until the early 1960s no formal schools existed in Bhutan except for religious ones. Since that time the country has developed free and noncompulsory schooling that provides both primary and secondary education. Due in part to a lack of access to facilities, the attendance rate at Bhutan’s schools is relatively low. In 1988 it was estimated that 25 percent of the country’s children attended primary school and 5 percent attended secondary school. A greater percentage of boys attend school than girls.