Synopsis NIAR is focused on addressing multifarious governance challenges facing the country by generating serious policy debate through its publication activities. In pursunance of the above aim, it is bringing out a series of volumes entitled "Governance Challenges" highlighting one critical fact of governance in every volume.  The instant volume – the first in its series – has attempted to address a plethora a issues concerning elementary education. The importance of elementary education is evident from the fact it is not only seen as a means of ensuring a bright future for the children but building their capacities so as to enable them to lead a purposeful life and play a more meaningful role in the development of the country. There are several concerns central to the provisioning of elementary education in the country ranging from adequacy of the magnitude of expenditure involved to the proper and effective utilization of allocated funds. The bottlenecks faced in effective implementation of the government programmes also have an impact on the educational outcomes. The contribution of the authors lies in the fact that they have tried to trace and address the various factors and issues concerning elementary education in an analytical manner and have tried to derive possible inferences and solutions. This can be a useful resource for the policy makers and administrators in their quest for achieving the universalisation of elementary education.