India’s worst concerns and the best of achievements relate to education. Present education system that has great institutions such as IITs and IISc has produced some unique results. When we look at the primary schools, particularly the governments ones in rural India, we get the shock of our life. And that is the biggest concern. Many feel the education system must change to suit the present requirement of the nation. And its quality must improve to meet the need of the knowledge sector that India plans to excel at.

Statistics below will highlight many different aspects of the education in India.

17,189 colleges and universities in India (4,182 in the US)

93,000 elementary schools with computers in India (1,10,000 in the US)

19% primary schools in India with single teachers

25% schools with electricity in 2004, compared to 21% in 2002

76% primary and secondary schools with drinking water in 2004, up from 71.9% in 2002-03

87% schools in villages out of a total of 9,00,000 schools in India in 2004

70% schools with pucca buildings in 2004

5,00,000 become doctors in India every year (1.5 m in China which produces the largest number)

9,070 doctoral degrees awarded in 2005 (42,700 in the US but 6,000 in China)

3,50,000 engineers produced annually (6,00,000 in China)

8,00,000 complete MBA every year (2,00,000 in the US)

5.7m school teachers in India (2.2 m in China)

1:41 the teacher-pupil ratio in primary schools in India (1:21 in China)

400 medical colleges in India (125 colleges in the US)

2,00,000 science degrees are awarded every year (6,00,000 in China)

73% literacy rate in India among males (95% among males in China)

Among women literacy rate is 47.8% in India (86.5% in China)

13 m children do not attend school in India according to an SRI-IMRB survey

16% out of 3,00,000 children between 6 and 14 years study in private primary schools in villages

25% government primary school teachers in India are absent from their work annually

10,500 students studied at the world’s first university at Takshila in 700 BC

9.9 m students enrolled in various colleges across the country

It clearly shows where India lacks.

Read India — the land of people’s power