Most of the Mexican population was illiterate and entirely unschooled, and there was no priority for the education of girls. A few girls in cities attended schools run by cloistered nuns. Some entered convent schools at around age eight, “to remain cloistered for the rest of their lives.” There were some schools connected to orphanages or confraternities. Private tutors educated girls from wealthy families, but only enough so that they could oversee a household. There were few opportunities for mixed-race boys or girls. “Education was, in short, highly selective as befits a stratified society, and the possibilities of self-realization were a lottery of birth rather than talent.”