Kerala's achievements in social development and quality of life are, no doubt, inspiring and encouraging. The state has achieved a human development index comparable to the developed countries of the World.

Schools and colleges in Kerala are mostly run by the government, private trusts, or individuals. English and Malayalam are the language of instruction in most of the government and private run schools. Government run schools in the districts bordering Karnataka and Tamil Nadu also offer instruction in Kannada or Tamil languages. A handful of Government Sanskrit Schools provide instruction in Sanskrit supplemented by Malayalam, English, Tamil or Kannada. After 10 years of secondary schooling, students typically enroll at Higher Secondary School in one of the three streams arts, commerce or science. Upon completing the required coursework, students can enroll in general or professional degree programmes.

Thiruvananthapuram, one of the state's major academic hubs, hosts the University of Kerala and several professional education colleges. Kochi is another major educational hub. The Cochin University of Science and Technology also known as "Cochin University" is situated in the suburb of the city. Most of the city's colleges offering tertiary education are affiliated to the Mahatma Gandhi University.