The Central Government with the help of the State Governments has been emphasizing on the universalisation of elementary education in the country since India’s independence. States like Gujarat have participated actively in the race to make the task more convenient and faster. Gujarat has set its goals on educating each and every citizen of the state and also to strengthen the education status of the state.

The state follows a uniform structure of school education i.e. the 10+2 system which has also been adopted by other states and union territories of India. The high school stage comprises of class VIII to X and higher secondary stage comprises of class XI-XII. The secondary education plays a vital role in a student’s academic career as it is the appropriate time for the student to decide upon his/her career.

Programmes like the District Primary Education Programme have made primary education compulsory and free for all. Schools in the state are affiliated with the Gujarat state secondary and higher secondary board. However, some schools are also affiliated with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) or the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (ICSE) boards.

Gujarat houses some of the best higher education institutions in the country namely the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad, Nirma Institue of Technology and Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information & Communication Technology which are also known worldwide for their quality education and research. There are several outstanding research institutes viz. Institute for Plasma Research, Physical Research Laboratory (PRL). The state has a total number of 15 universities including deemed universities and institutes of national importance.

Administration

Gujarat State Ministry	Departments Allocated	Block/Floor	Office /Intercom	Res.
Smt. Anandiben Mafatbhai Patel Email: min-edu@gujarat.gov.in	Education (school, higher and adult)	1/2	23223080 23238073 23250149	23220132 23232441
Shri Bhupendra Lakhawala	Education(primary)	2/5	23250195 23250197 23250199

GROWTH OF RECOGNISED EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS FROM 1950-51 TO 2001-2002

Years	Primary Schools	Upper Primary Schools	High/Hr. Sec/ Inter /Pre. Jr. Colleges	Colleges for General Education	Colleges for Professional Education (Engg., Tech.,  Arch., Medical & Education  colleges)	Universities/ Deemed Univ../ Instt. of National Importance
1950-51	209671	13596	7416	370	208	27
1955-56	278135	21730	10838	466	218	31
1960-61	330399	49663	17329	967	852	45
1965-66	391064	75798	27614	1536	770	64
1970-71	408378	90621	37051	2285	992	82
1975-76	454270	106571	43054	3667	**  3276	101
1980-81	494503	118555	51573	3421	**  3542	110
1985-86	528872	134846	65837	4067	**  1533	126
1990-91	560935	151456	79796	4862	886	184
1991-92	566744	155926	82576	5058	950	196
1992-93	571248	158498	84608	5334	989	207
1993-94	570455	162804	89226	5639	1125	213
1994-95	586810	168772	94946	6089	1230	219
1995-96	593410	174145	99274	6569	1354	226
1996-97	603646	180293	103241	6759	1770	228
1997-98	619222	185961	107140	7199	2075	229
1998-99*	626737	190166	112438	7494	2113	237
1999-2000*	641695	198004	116820	7782	2124	244
2000-2001*	638738	206269	126047	7929	2223	254
2001-2002*	664041	219626	133492	8737	2409	272