ABSTRACT
The Indian government is in the process of revising its education policy; in June 2016, an expert committee brought out a report for the consideration of civil society and the government. This has led to considerable discussion and debate about where we are with respect to education. The government does not tire of announcing that the enrolment in primary schools in India showed impressive growth in the 1990s and 2000s. It is commonly believed that parents who are well off devote a larger proportion of their financial and social resources to their children's cognitive development. It is also argued that the rich have greater access to educational resources. The question that then arises is whether differentiation in the kind of schools that children attend, the quality of the schooling, and the opportunities that are available there also reflect differences in income. India has created parallel structures of education governed by different norms and playing by different rules.
