Mumbai (Bombay)

Education

Mumbai is a major center of learning and education. The University of Mumbai was founded in 1857 as an affiliating and examining body patterned after the University of London. Although it still has numerous constituent colleges, the institution has also taken on teaching functions. Other important educational and research institutions include SNDT Women's University, the Indian Institute of Technology (ITT-Mumbai), the Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC), the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), and the National Center for Software Technology (NCST). The Haffkine Institute is an important center for research in medicine and allied sciences.

Mumbai municipality runs more than 1,000 primary and secondary schools for the city's children. Instruction is provided in the student's mother tongue (mainly Marathi, Hindi, Urdu, and English) though Marathi is a compulsory subject in all municipal schools. Education is free up to certain grades although parents pay for text books and school uniforms. Literacy rates in Mumbai are high (c. 82 percent in 1998) although school drop-out rates are also high.

Inadequate resources and declining standards in public institutions result in parents sending their children to the city's elite private secondary schools, such as Sophia College and St. Xavier's College. Many wealthier families look overseas for higher education.