India - Education

Primary and Secondary Education

The Government of India’s flagship elementary education program - the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) - or Education for All - aims to enroll all 6-14 year-olds in school by 2010. It also aims to have these children complete eight years of schooling. The government has put major financial and technical resources into this program. The program is also being collectively supported by the World Bank, the European Commission and United Kingdom’s DFID. In the first phase of support, between 2003 and 2006, the World Bank contributed $500 million of the total program cost of $3.5 billion. World Bank lending is on the concessional terms offered by IDA.

Vocational Education and Training

As India’s economy grows, there is an urgent need to produce technicians of international standard to meet industry’s rising demand for skilled manpower. In 2006, the Government of India and the World Bank carried out an analysis to identify the key constraints that hinder the employment potential of vocational education graduates. Based on this analysis, the government initiated the Vocational Training Improvement Project (VTIP) which supports 400 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) across the country to become centers of excellence in selected areas. The project became operational in 2007 and is supported with US$ 280 million from the World Bank on concessional lending terms.

Technical and Tertiary Education

India has one of the largest systems of higher learning in the world with over 330 universities and 18,000 colleges. It also has one of the largest numbers of engineers and technicians in the world. Although there are many world class institutions, the quality of instruction imparted by numerous others is not of the highest quality. At the Government’s request, World Bank projects have helped train some 25,000 students each year in over 200 areas of high technology. Two projects are currently ongoing. In Higher Education, the World Bank is conducting a study to contribute to the debate about how India can address the skills shortages and reduce unemployment among its higher education graduates

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Education