Education in Raichur district has seen a sustained effort in making education a fundamental right that can be achieved by all. This reflects the increased national commitment towards achieving the goal of Universalisation of Elementary Education (UEE). There has been a demand from parents for attention to the education of their children. Simultaneous efforts were taken to focus on the universalisation of primary education. The district has made steady progress in achieving universalisation of elementary education, though the progress has been uneven in different blocks. Increasing enrolment, retention and achievement at the primary stage has in turn generated growing demand for upper primary education. Consequently, achievement of UEE depends now, along with continuing efforts at the primary stage, on a focus on the upper primary stage.

As regards higher education, the district has good facilities. There are colleges of engineering, medicine, nursing, dental sciences, post graduate courses, agricultural sciences, business management etc catering to the needs of higher education.

According to the 2001 census, the literacy rate in the district is 49.54 percent, with a 62.02 percent literacy rate among the male population of the district, and 36.84 percent among the women. Among the various blocks, the highest rate of literacy is seen in Lingsugur, which stands at 48.16 percent, whereas Deodurga block is the lowest in terms of literacy rate in the district, (37.38 percent) especially in terms of female literacy (36.30 percent).

The district has 1465 primary schools having classes I to V of which 524 are higher primary schools having classes I to VII. This is inclusive of Government Schools / Aided Schools / Unaided schools. There are 1308 Anganwadi centres run by the Department of Women and Child Development. The HPS schools consist of classes I - VII and thus the number of schools providing access to primary schooling are 1465. To move towards the national norm of elementary education, eighth standard is added to 56 Upper primary schools during 2003-04. However majority of UPS remain at the seventh standard level.

There are 1086 habitations in the district. According to the household survey most of the habitations having a population of 200 and above and child population of 15 and above are provided with access for primary schools within a distance of 1 km. Some of the towns and big villages may have more than one school. Each primary school is serving on an average a population of 1125 in the district and an upper primary school is serving on an average 3086 populations in the district. During 2002-03 Class V was added to Primary schooling and classes VI and VII were put under Upper Primary Schooling. As a result there is a revision of number of primary and upper primary schools in the district.

The Educational Administrative machinery at the district level is headed by the Deputy Director of Public Instruction (DDPI). He is assisted by a team of 2 Educational Officers, 5 Subject Inspectors and one Superintendent of physical Education, all of whom provide academic guidance at the district level. The D.D.P.I. takes up the academic and administrative inspections of the institutions in the district and also provides educational leadership to the entire district.

At the level of the blocks, the Block Educational Officer (B.E.O.) leads the administration of the educational machinery. He is supported by a team of 5 Educational Co-ordinators and Educational Assistants. They pay visits to the schools in their jurisdiction and provide guidance for improvement of educational quality in the schools. The BEOs are assisted by the Block Resource Coordinators in the planning, implementation and supervision of the activities under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. The BRCs have 5 resource persons - 2 from the high school cadre and 3 from the primary cadre. These resource persons provide training, academic guidance and on job support to the teachers in their respective blocks.

At the cluster level there is a Cluster Resource Person (CRP) who provides academic guidance and on job support to the teachers in their clusters.

In order to look to give academic support to the teachers of primary schools, the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) has been set up. The Institute also sees to the training needs of teachers working in both the districts of Raichur and Koppal. It is headed by the Principal of the DDPI cadre, and re-designated as ex-Officio DDPI (Development). There are a total of seven units that form part of the DIET. These are- Pre Service Teachers Education (PSTE); District Resource Unit (DRU); Inservice Training, Field Interaction and Co-ordination (IFIC); Curriculum, Material Development and Evaluation (CMDE); Educational Technology (ET); Work Experience (WE); Planning and Management (P and M)

Each unit is headed by a Senior Lecturer and assisted by one or two Lecturers. DIET functions as the academic nucleus of the district in identifying the training needs of teachers, the teaching learning and evaluation processes and accordingly designs the need-based interventions in the development of training packages, training design and provide academic support to the teacher fraternity. As the district has Block Resource Centres and Cluster Resource Centres, the DIET also functions to coordinate the activities of these sub-district structures in providing training and academic guidance to the teachers. The DIETs also take up the action research studies in the district with a view to bringing out innovative ideas and practices in the field of education, and they share the same among the teacher fraternity.

Thus it may be seen that as regards education in Raichur district, it is a consistent and systematised effort to see to the provision of basic and primary education to all.