Madhya Pradesh has a well managed education system. There are separate statutory bodies that ensure smooth functioning of all education departments in the state at all levels. Schools in the state are either affiliated with the State Board of Secondary Education or with the CBSE or ICSE. The schools run by the state government use Hindi as their medium of instruction; however schools affiliated to CBSE or ICSE use English as their medium of study. The government has adopted the free and compulsory education policy to provide primary education to all children up to the age of 14.

The state follows a uniform structure of school education i.e. the 10+2 system which is also adopted by other states and union territories of India. The high school stage of the state comprises of class VIII to X and higher secondary stage comprises of class XI-XII. Madhya Pradesh has 13 state universities, 3 deemed universities, 8 medical colleges and a good many number of engineering and management institutions.

The state’s literacy rate figures 64.11% according to 2001 census report. The government is taking all possible steps to revamp the education system of the state. Various projects have also been started by NGOs to overcome the problem of illiteracy in remote villages. The state has registered tremendous success in this regard in the recent period.