ABSTRACT
India has made impressive strides in expanding access to primary and lower secondary education during recent years. Between 2005 and 2009, for example, the number of out-of-school children in the age group 6–14 years declined from about 13.4 million to 8 million — an impressive achievement in a relatively short period of time. 1 Another area of progress in India during the past decade or two has been the expansion of female schooling. The share of girls in primary and secondary education increased quite dramatically, thanks in large part to many states offering stipends and free tuition for girls of secondary-school age.
