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India's immense diversity in wealth and geography is reflected in its varied experience with ICTs and education. Adult literacy rates in India are also disparate: while 70 percent of men are considered literate, only 48 percent of women are. The government's strong commitment to primary education is characterized by its flagship program, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, which has more recently been replicated to boost the low rates of secondary enrollment.

The importance of using ICT for improving education has been emphasized in the policy framework for over a decade in India. The government has also recently initiated a stakeholder dialogue on formulating a draft national policy for ICT in Education. As such, numerous initiatives have been started by both public and private entities; the report summarizes and examines them at length.

Key Links and Documents

Policy Documents

• Education Policy (1992) [Link]
• National Policy on ICT in School Education (draft) [Link]
• Guidelines on ICT @ School Scheme [Link]

Government Departments

• Ministry of Human Resource and Development [Link]
• Department of School Education and Literacy [Link]
• Department of Higher Education [Link]
• Ministry of Communications and Information Technology [Link]
• Department of Information technology [Link]
• Department of Telecommunication [Link]

Relevant Initiatives

• National Knowledge Commission [Link]
• Sarva Siksha Abhyaan [Link]
• Sakshat Portal [Link]
• Media Lab Asia [Link]
• National Institute of Open Schooling [Link]
• Indira Ghandi National Open University [Link]
• Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan [Link]
• Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti [Link]
• Microsoft [Link]
• Oracle [Link]
• National Institute of Information Technology [Link]
• Intel Education Initiative [Link]
• Cisco Education Initiative [Link]
• Educomp Solutions Limited [Link]
• Azim Premji Foundation [Link]
• Digital Empowerment Foundation [Link]
• Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies [Link]

Relevant Documents

• D. P. S. Seth, 2006 “A report on National Knowledge Network” National Knowledge Commission. [Link]
• S. Jha, S. Chatterjee, 2005. “Public-Private Partnership in a Minimally Invasive Education Approach.” [Link]
• Free and Compulsory Education Bill And Other Issues Related to Elementary Education, Report of the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) Committee, June 2005 [Link]
• India, New Delhi. 2009 “Facing Global and Local Challenges: The New Dynamics for Higher Education” UNESCO [Link]