The dramatic growth in Indian elementaryeducation enrollment and improvements in retention andtransition rates over the past ten years, particularly amongmore disadvantaged groups, are increasing pressure on thesecondary level to absorb new entrants. Given ongoing centerand state investments in Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (educationfor all), this trend will continue for the next 10 years. Atthe same time, India's impressive, sustained economicgrowth has increased household and labor market demand forsecondary and higher education. Secondary education'scontribution to economic growth, demonstrated high socialbenefits (particularly for girls), and support of democraticcitizenship reinforce the need for increased public supportat this level, particularly in light of the very largeinequalities in access to secondary education, by income,gender, social group and geography. The challenge is todramatically improve access, equity and quality of secondaryeducation simultaneously. Small-scale learning achievementstudies and parental preference for private schools suggestthat the quality of public secondary education is alarminglylow. Efforts to improve the quality of secondary educationare thus urgent, but medium to long-term in producingresults. India needs to make the public qualitativeinvestments now in teacher education and accountability,curriculum reform, quality assurance, examinations reform,national assessment capabilities and management informationsystems, which will require time and significantinstitutional capacity building to succeed at a nationalscale. The recently launched centrally sponsored scheme forsecondary education, Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan(RMSA), offers a strategic opportunity to improve access andequity; enhance quality, accountability and ability tomeasure learning outcomes; and promote standardization ofcurriculum and examinations across states. In addition,India's recent decision to participate in internationalassessments of student achievement is an extremely positivesign. Over time, such participation will provide animportant objective baseline of students' cognitiveskills and a future measure of success of the country'sinvestments in elementary and secondary education.
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