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Schooling is not a benign process, rather the choice of schooling is often an opportunity for marginalised groups to creatively express particular sets of values in an attempt to gain distinction. Educational attainments carry the potential to open up a range of employment opportunities, but even if these options fail due to structural constraints, particular types of schooling are socially valued for the lifestyles, culture and values they inculcate. This paper, based on field research in Jharkhand, India, explores how people of different social categories make educational choices, focusing particularly on the gendered nature of both their aspirations and strategies for gaining distinction. The experience of state-run schooling is compared to private (including mission) education, both in the locality and at a distance, the latter often perceived to provide higher-quality English education by both parents and children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]