http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/06/world/asia/06school.html

"The anxiety over school admissions is a parable of desire and
frustration in a country with the largest concentration of young people
in the world. About 40 percent of India's 1.1 billion citizens are
younger than 18; many others are parents in their 20s and 30s, with
young school-age children.

Today, for all but the very poor, government schools are not an option
because they are considered weak, and the competition for choice
private schools is fierce.