Education has a lot of importance in Islam. 
The first verse revealed in the Quran is: "Read! In the name of your Lord, who created: created man from a clot [of blood]. Read! Your Lord is the Most Bountiful One, who taught by the pen." (96:1-4)

God taught by the pen. He revealed the truth by the pen. What does a pen do? The pen writes. It writes books. Islam is a literature-based religion. Islam is to be written about, read and thus taught to others. At the time of the Prophet, the battle of Badr took place. The Battle of Badr was a defensive war for Muslims. The Muslims won and seventy men from the other group was taken prisoner. These were seventy prisoners of war. They were brought to Madinah as prisoners of war. These men were clearly enemies. At that time, the people of Madinah were not literate. The people of Makkah were educated. The Prophet was in Madinah at that time. 
                      The Prophet told each of the seventy Makkan prisoners to teach ten children of Madinah. This would serve as ransom for the prisoner. The enemy was asked to teach ten Muslim children. The enmity of these men was certain, because they had attacked the Muslims. Still the Prophet was ready to take the risk to set them free. The risk was that once they were free, they would organize themselves again to launch an attack. In spite of this risk, the Prophet declared that the prisoner who taught ten Muslim children would be set free. This is what happened. 
               This was the first school in Islamic history, established by the Prophet himself in Madinah. All its teachers were non-Muslims. The first school opened by the Prophet had Muslim students and non-Muslim teachers. These non-Muslims at that time were opposed to Islam. This shows how much importance Islam attaches to education.