Education system

The central and most state boards uniformly follow the "10+2+3" pattern of education.^[12]:3 In this pattern, study of 12 years is done in schools or in colleges,^[12]:44 and then 3 years of graduation for a bachelor's degree.^[13] The first 10 years is further subdivided into 5 years of primary education, 3 years of upper primary, followed by 2 years of high school.^[12]:5 This pattern originated from the recommendation of the Education Commission of 1964–66.^[14]
The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is the apex body for curriculum related matters for school education in India.^[15] The NCERT provides support and technical assistance to a number of schools in India and oversees many aspects of enforcement of education policies.^[16] Other curriculum bodies governing school education system are:

• The state government boards : Most of the state governments have one "State board of secondary education" . However, some states like Andhra Pradesh have more than one. Also the union territories do not have a board, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Puducherry, Chandigarh, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu share the services with a larger state.
• Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) which conducts examinations at the 10th and 12th standards
• The Council of Indian School Certificate Examination(CISCE). CISCE conducts three examinations, namely, the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE - Class/ Grade 10); The Indian School Certificate (ISC - Class/ Grade 12) and the Certificate in Vocational Education (CVE - Class/Grade 12).
• The National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) conducts two examinations, namely, Secondary Examination and Senior Secondary Examination (All India) and also some courses in Vocational Education.
• International schools affiliated to the International Baccalaureate Programme and/or the Cambridge International Examinations.
• Islamic Madrasah schools, whose boards are controlled by local state governments, or autonomous, or affiliated with Darul Uloom Deoband.
• Autonomous schools like Woodstock School, The Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education Puducherry, Auroville, Patha Bhavan and Ananda Marga Gurukula
• International schools, which offer 10th and 12th standard examinations under the International Baccalaureate, or the Cambridge Senior Secondary Examination systems. It is important to note that IB qualification is not recognised or accepted as a pre-degree examination in a number of universities and IIT's, and are therefore only suitable for children who are likely to complete their studies outside India.

In addition, NUEPA (National University of Educational Planning and Administration)^[17] and NCTE (National Council for Teacher Education) are responsible for the management of the education system and teacher accreditation.^[18]

Primary education

The Indian government lays emphasis on primary education, also referred to as elementary education, to children aged 6 to 14 years old.^[19] The Indian government has also banned child labor in order to ensure that the children do not enter unsafe working conditions.^[19] However, both free education and the ban on child labour are difficult to enforce due to economic disparity and social conditions.^[19] 80% of all recognized schools at the elementary stage are government run or supported, making it the largest provider of education in the country.^[20]

However, due to a shortage of resources and lack of political will, this system suffers from massive gaps including high pupil to teacher ratios, shortage of infrastructure and poor levels of teacher training. Figures released by the Indian government in 2011 show that there were 5,816,673 elementary school teachers in India.^[21] As of March 2012 there were 2,127,000 secondary school teachers in India.^[22] Education has also been made free^[19] for children for 6 to 14 years of age or up to class VIII under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009.^[23]
There have been several efforts to enhance quality made by the government. The District Education Revitalization Programme (DERP) was launched in 1994 with an aim to universalize primary education in India by reforming and vitalizing the existing primary education system.^[24] 85% of the DERP was funded by the central government and the remaining 15 percent was funded by the states.^[24] The DERP, which had opened 160000 new schools including 84000 alternative education schools delivering alternative education to approximately 3.5 million children, was also supported by UNICEF and other international programmes.^[24]
This primary education scheme has also shown a high Gross Enrollment Ratio of 93–95% for the last three years in some states.^[24] Significant improvement in staffing and enrollment of girls has also been made as a part of this scheme.^[24] The current scheme for universalization of Education for All is the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan which is one of the largest education initiatives in the world. Enrollment has been enhanced, but the levels of quality remain low.