Access vs Quality?

Education policies are forever challenged by the access vs quality tension. Is this a false dichotomy or are the two parallel lines that just will not meet? Here is a piece in today's NY Times that describes another example of this challenge in the context of education in India.

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/10/23/in-india-revealing-the-children-left-behind/?mabReward=RI%3A11&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&region=CColumn&module=Recommendation&src=rechp&WT.nav=RecEngine