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Kerala, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Haryana and Gujarat have been given top five ranking among 21 major states in the latest Education Development Index (EDI) based on 23 indicators, including access, infrastructure, outcome and teachers for primary and upper primary level.
While Kerala (EDI, 0.791), Delhi (EDI, 0.780), Tamil Nadu (EDI, 0.771) have maintained their positions respectively, Himachal Pradesh (EDI, 0.695) conceded its fourth position to Haryana (EDI, 0.755). At the primary level Kerala conceded its second position to Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh its fourth position to Haryana. Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh and Jharkhand are ranked 35, 34 and 33 in case of composite primary and upper primary levels of education with an EDI as low as 0.406, 0.485 and 0.488 respectively.

In the overall ranking, West Bengal and Jharkhand are placed 33rd and 32nd respectively in the composite EDI at primary and upper primary levels of education compared to their respective 33rd and 34th positions in 2006-07. The EDI reveals that Mizoram out-performed the other six states in the north-eastern region. These small states were found to be doing much better than a number of bigger states.
The EDI also indicates a marked improvement in the case of Lakshadweep and Puducherry in composite primary and upper primary levels of education. Puducherry not only ranked first within the set of smaller states but also ranked first with an EDI value of 0.808 among all the states and UTs of the country in composite primary and upper primary levels of education.

The analysis of the EDI reveals that different states are at different levels of educational development in general, and primary and upper primary levels of education in particular. “A few states with high EDI values are termed better than the other states but still they may not be well placed with regard to all the four sets of indicators used in computation of the EDI. Even if a state is ranked first, it may need further improvement,” said the DISE Flash Statistics: 2008-09 prepared by the National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA).  It is a progress report towards universalization of elementary education in India and covers both primary and upper primary schools of all the districts of the country.