Until the 19th century, young people from Abkhazia usually received their education mainly at religious schools (Muslims at madrasas and Christians at seminaries), although a small number of children from wealthy families had opportunity to travel to foreign countries for education. The first modern educational institutions (both schools and colleges) in Abkhazia were established in the late 19th-early 20th centuries and rapidly grew until the second half of the 20th century. by the middle of the 20th century, Sukhumi had become a home for large educational institutions (both higher education institutions and technical vocational education and training (TVET) colleges) and largest students' community in Abkhazia. For example, the number of college students grew from few dozens in the 1920s to several thousands in the 1980s.