A case study of how science is taught in some of the primary schools in Hoshangabad district in Madhya Pradesh reveals that a lack of "cultural capital" does hamper the economically poor students in synchronising with the "education" that is designed in school textbooks and taught by teachers. Middle-class students who are backed by certain cultural capital fare relatively better. Cultural capital informs the relationship between schooling and the family/social structure and also shapes the teacher's role in how she or he negotiates with students from different backgrounds. Differing cultural capital is not reflected either in the nature of textbooks or in the nature of the teachers' training. This reveals how the question of accessibility to education cannot be limited to access to infrastructure but also includes access to knowledge.