Universalization of good quality basic education:
Almost two decades of basic education programs have expanded access to schools in India. The number of out of school children decreased from 25 million in 2003 to an estimated 9.6 million in 2007. Most of those still not enrolled are from marginalized social groups. Two issues remain:
- Reaching some 9 million children not yet enrolled
- Ensuring education is of good quality, so it improves learning levels and cognitive skills.
Also, India still faces challenges in providing quality Early Childhood Development programs for all children.

Expanding secondary education and improving quality:
Secondary education yields social and economic benefits, so it should be universalized. Things to consider:
- Less than 40 percent of Indian adolescents attend secondary schools.
- Curriculum and teaching practices need upgrading to impart more relevant skills, such as learning-to-learn, and critical and independent thinking.
- Public-private partnerships need to be explored.

Reforming vocational education and training:
More vocational education is required to adequately prepare youth for current jobs. This requires:
- Expanding vocational education
- Setting common standards for training and defining goals that ensure learning in fields where there is demand for jobs.
- Ensuring accountability and good use of resources.

Expanding and Improving Technical and Tertiary Education:
India’s tertiary education system is one of the largest in the world with over ten million students. It is among the world’s top three countries in number of engineers. Nevertheless, only 1 out of 10 young people has access to higher education, and this is predominantly among the well-off. Tertiary education needs to be expanded, especially among low and middle-income students.

Since 2000, the World Bank has committed over US$1 billion to education in India. It also provides technical support. Assistance includes:

Early Childhood Development: The World Bank supports India’s Integrated Child Development Services with several operations [Phase II] and [Phase III]. These projects include lessons learned from research and analysis such as Reaching out to the Child which recommends decentralized and integrated approaches to early childhood development. The World Bank is also doing research to explore improvements in service delivery using micro-planning and finding synergies among various social programs for children.

Elementary/Primary education: The World Bank has financed eight District Primary Education Projects in the last decade at the national level with special projects at the state level (Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan). It pooled funds with other donors and the federal and state governments to support the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan program for four years. It invested US$ 500 million to expand facilities and improve infrastructure, get children to school, and set up a system to assess learning. In addition to financing, its evaluations and research provide pointers to further improvements. This includes studies on financing elementary education, teacher absenteeism, instructional time and quality in primary education and the impact of information sharing and incentives to improve quality.

Secondary Education: The World Bank is conducting research and analysis on expanding access to secondary education, particularly for girls and other marginalized groups. It is also examining the role and effectiveness of the private sector and public-private partnerships in expanding secondary education.

Vocational education and training: Based on analysis on vocational education and training in India, the World Bank is supporting efforts to upgrade this sector with a US$250 million project. It will upgrade 400 Industrial training institutes (ITIs) as centers of excellence.

Technical and Higher education: A US$250 million operation is helping improve India’s technical/engineering education. It finances major reforms in 128 competitively selected engineering institutions in 13 states to improve quality of education and meet the demands of a fast growing economy. A Third Technician Education project helped establish and upgrade polytechnics in states of North East of India, Jammu & Kashmir and the Union Territory of Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Further, several reports examines the increased demand for skilled workers in India and its importance for national competitiveness.

Support to States:World Bank Development Policy Credits in a few states support state level education reforms through policy dialogue and research. Studies were undertaken in Karnataka. The World Bank is currently engaged in Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, and Bihar.