Over the last 3 years, some 180 districts have reported decreasing enrolment in govt schools. Correspondingly, the number of low-fee private schools has risen to around 3 lakh. The poor are moving away from free education... a sure sign of the aspirations you mention. Some reasons: The recent increase in student population has increased student diversity, and we still continue to use the same method for all and expect the same results. Curricula and textbooks expect homogenous groups of children who will attend regularly - both of which are not visible anywhere! So what we have is a system designed to fail. It is no wonder that most of the children do not learn the minimum that they could, as survey after survey reveals. It is very difficult to offer 'purpose' to someone who has wasted a childhood (and a mind with much potential) in schools. Interestingly, private schools, as a whole, are not dramatically better than government schools when it comes to real learning and development of children. On top of this, efforts such as the SSA are not focused on how teachers learn, and how schools, institutions and systems themselves learn. Finally, it is now governance issues that are the biggest barriers to improving the quality of education - corruption, whimsical introduction / removal of projects, a short term perspective and a management-friendly rather than learner-friendly focus.