FOREWORD

        
                                  From time to time, NIEPA has been disseminating the research findings and other re-
                                  lated materials for the use of educational administrators, planners and researchers in
                                  the universities and educational institutions.
        
                                  The absence of a comprehensive document dealing with basic educational and allied
                                  statistics was felt during the training programmes, workshops and seminars organised
                                  by NIEPA.  The present publication is an attempt to fill this gap.  The first edition was
                                  brought out in August, 1991 and the present edition incorporates some of the addition-
                                  al demographic data made available for 1991 census as well as the latest education-
                                  al data collected by the Department of Education, Ministry of Human Resoruce
                                  Development.
        
                                  The present volume focusses on the data pertaining to Education for All which includes
                                  elementary and non-formal education.  An attempt has been made to generate a com-
                                  parable time series and spatial data in respect of these sectors of education.  For the
                                  purposes of presentation, the volume has been divided into seven sections: (1) Ad-
                                  ministrative Structure, (2) Demography, (3) Literacy, (4) Institutions, (5) Teachers, (6)
                                  Enrolment, (7) Expenditure on Education.
        
                                  Efforts have been made to build comparable time-series to the extent possible.  In cer-
                                  tain cases a complete time-series is not available and consequently, the comparative
                                  picture at a number of points has been presented.
        
                                  Although NIEPA is not directly involved in the collection and compilation of education-
                                  al statistics but by virtue of its functions, it is one of the important users of education-
                                  al and allied data.  Some important agencies engaged in this task of collection and
                                  publication of educational data are the Department of Education of the Central Govern-
                                  ment and the State Governments, Registrar General of India, National Sample Sur-
                                  vey, NCERT, National Informatics Centre, etc.
        
                                  This Institute is grateful to all the agencies which have generated primary data and
                                  made it available to us (published and unpublished) for the preparation of this docu-
                                  ment.  I wish to place on record my sincere appreciation of Mr. P.N. Tyagi, who shared
                                  the major responsibility for bringing out this publication and was able to show his in-
                                  novativeness in handling a variety of data by selecting suitable techniques of graphic
                                  presentation.  I am also thankful to all those faculty members, particularly to Dr. Y.P.
                                  Aggarwal, who have helped earlier in conceptualisation of this publication and assisted
                                  in revision of the document for the second edition and also to the Publication Unit for
                                  arranging expeditious publication of the revised edition.
        
                                        New Delhi                                                   (Baldev Mahajan)
                                        November, 1993                                                Joint Director
                                                                                                          NIEPA