The 75th round of the NSS focused on education related indicators. The survey report which was released recently indicated that more than 60% of the students are still studying in government educational institutions. However, this number is coming down. The survey also indicates that more than 30% of those opting for private education do so for ‘quality of education’. The National Statistical Office under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI) recently released the report on Household Consumption on Education in India. The report is an outcome of the 75 round of National Sample Survey (NSS) conducted between July 2017 and June 2018. The survey gives primary data on different indicators relating to education such as level of education, attendance incentives received by students, and expenditure on education which helps in planning, decision making, policy formulation, and analysis. For the 75 round of the survey, a sample of 64,519 rural households from 8,097 villages and 49,23 urban households from 6,188 blocks were covered across India. The survey gives both qualitative and quantitative information, covering students falling in the age bracket of three to thirty-five years who attend educational institutions at different levels from pre-primary to graduate level and beyond. Around 3 students out of 5 students in classes I to XII, attended government schools On the basis of management, three types of institutions have been considered- government, private aided, and private unaided. The report revealed that, except at the pre-primary level of education, majority of the students who were undergoing formal education attended government run educational institutions. At the pre-primary level, about 55% of the students went to private unaided institutions while less than one-third attended government institutions. At least 60% of the students in classes I to XII went to government schools as per the NSS DATA. At the same time, as per UDISE’s data, there are 10.83 Lakh government schools in India, accounting for 70% of the schools in the country. Around 21% are private and about 5% are private aided schools. At the ‘diploma or certificate below graduate level’, the percentage of students going to private unaided institutions was more than 30%. Greater share of students in rural areas went to government educational institutions A greater share of students in the rural parts of the country went to government run educational institutions as compared to their urban counterparts. According to the survey, 44.2% of the students at pre-primary level, 73.7% at primary level, 76.1% at upper primary/middle level, 68% at secondary & higher secondary level and 49.7% at graduate and above level went to government-run institutions in the rural areas. At the same time, only 13.9% at pre-primary level, 30.9% at primary level, 38% at upper primary level, 38.9% at secondary and higher secondary levels, and 41% at graduate and above levels went to government run institutions in the urban areas. Students attending government institutions has dropped over the last ten years Compared to the earlier rounds of the survey (71st round in 2014), there has been a drastic fall in the proportion of students at primary, upper primary, and secondary and higher secondary levels attending government schools in urban areas. At the primary level, it fell from 39.6% attending government schools in 2007-08 to 30.9% in 2017-18. Similarly, the percentage has dropped from 44.2% to 38% at upper primary level and 45.2% to 38.9% at secondary and higher secondary level in urban India. The survey also estimated that around 36.4 lakh students had shifted from government to private institutions in the past one year while 32.4 lakh shifted from private to government institutions. Students, who at the time of survey attended private institutions- both aided and unaided, were asked the reason behind opting for the same instead of government institution. Quality of education was the most popular reason for choosing private institutions It is observed that quality of education was cited as the reason by most students for opting private institutions. This reason was cited by more than 38% of the students in rural areas and nearly 30% in urban areas. It was perceived by majority that the quality of education was better in private institutions and unsatisfactory in nearby government institutions. Location of the institution closer home was the reason given by more than 28% of female students in urban areas. Around 15% in rural areas and 19% in urban areas also cited English medium as the reason for choosing private institutions.