Under the Estado Novo, between 1930 and 1940 the number of primary schools grew from 27 000 to 40 000, and while in the First Republic, between 1911 and 1930, Portugal's literacy grew from 29,7% to a modest 39,2%, under the Estado Novo the country's literacy rate, between 1930 and 1950, grew the double, from 39,2 % to 59,6 %.