EQUITY AND EXCELLENCE: ISSUES IN INDIAN EDUCATION 57 The present paper attempts to analyse the Navodaya programme in the context of the state of primary schooling in rural India. Focusing on the quantity and quality of education as well as on the economic and social constraints, the paper attempts to show that Navodaya Vidyalayas are likely to widen rather than reduce inequities in education. The emphasis on excellence concretised in Navodaya is not only misplaced but serves to rationalise the shift in resources and priorities that is already taking place away from primary education. The discussion that follows is in two parts: — The first attempts to outline the state of primary (rural) schooling, to present as it were the educational base from which talent is to be sifted. — The second analyses the Navodaya programme in the context of excellence and equity in schooling. SCHOOLING IN INDIA India is by all estimates an educationally backward country. While barely 36 per cent of the total population is literate, as many as 55.8 per cent (over 1,000 lakh children) between 5 and 14 years of age do not attend schools. More than 80 per cent (i.e. over 857 lakhs) of these children belong to rural areas.2 A striking contrast exists between rural and urban India in the context of literacy rates, schooling facilities and enrolment of children at each stage of education. A profile of literacy and schooling in urban and rural India is given in Table 1. Table 1 Literacy and Schooling: Urban and Rural India Rural Urban Literacy rates (1981) Total 29.7 57.4 Females 18.0 47.8 Population 5-14 years (1981) (Lakhs) 1401 394 Primary Schools/Sections 55.6 7.4 1986 (Lakhs) Middle Schools/Sections 14.5 4.2 1986 (Lakhs) Percentage attending schools 38.8 - 65.2 (1981) Percentage 'Pucca' Schools (1978) Primary 44.5 71.3 Middle 67.3 83.0 Teachers per primary section (1973) 2.4 5.7 Source: Census of India, 1981 Third, Fourth and Fifth All India Education Survey, 1973,1978 and 1986