The commonsense understanding of `education` rests on the assumption that it has a straightforward positive value. In practice education is profoundly ambiguous in its effects. By focusing on `educational regimes`-and thereby locating values in a broad political terrain encompassing global, national and local contexts-this collection of original essays addresses numerous crucial issues. These include: whether educational regimes relate to other facets of contemporary India society; the extent to which they facilitate the values and ideals enshrined in the Constitution and in policy goals; and the implications of the differential impact of educational regimes on different social groups in India.