In October 2009, ICICI Foundation for Inclusive Growth launched its new report, The Indian Public School System: Time for a Quality Revolution, which identifies a set of initiatives that will improve the quality of education in public schools across the country.

While a lot has been done to increase access to schooling in India, there is sufficient evidence to suggest that a large number of India’s 200 million school age children are not receiving the quality of education they deserve. To develop sharp and pragmatic recommendations for improving the quality of India’s public schools, ICICI Foundation launched a 3-month effort, which involved researching existing material on the topic, conducting field visits, speaking to a range of experts across government, foundations, non-governmental organisations, academics and entrepreneurs, and intensive analysis. McKinsey & Company assisted us in this effort by providing global expertise and insights into the Indian education system.

The results of this effort are presented in the report, which describes the imperatives for India in providing high-quality education and finds that the following initiatives are must-dos for India’s public school system:

• Conduct annual, standardised assessments at a national level.
• Set up a comprehensive school performance management system.
• Strengthen in-classroom support for teachers.
• Develop headmasters to become school leaders.

We hope this report will be useful not only to policy makers but also to school administrators, NGOs, academics, funding agencies and entrepreneurs, all of whom can make a significant contribution to ensure that the children of our country receive high-quality education.