Moving beyond exams: Indian education system needs to focus on innovation

As every year, ‘toppers’ of school-leaving board examinations are being feted as results are being announced. Those doing well certainly deserve congratulations. But the message that those who get the most marks in these exams are the brightest young minds may not bear the direct correlation that we assume. School-leaving exams, like all tests, are designed to test the prowess of examinees to tackle tests. While the ability to answer questions from syllabi, indeed, have a bearing on one’s intellectual capabilities, it is really about the proverbial horse’s performance on the race track, not about any other attributes.

The key to future success is innovation, critical thinking, experimentation and the willingness to fail and learn from failings. These stand in direct opposition to the examination track and field as things mostly stand now in the Indian education arena. Along with celebrating those who score the most, India must devise an education system that can reward understanding and the ability to translate that understanding into knowledge.

The model of learning that valorises the ability to recall vast amounts of information has served Indian students well over the decades. Access to information does help with finding solutions to problems – jugaad (mistranslated as innovation but is more accurately ‘adaptation’) is a good example. But with its focus on getting maximum marks, the system – and, indeed, ethos – does not prioritise critical thinking, problem-identifying and -solving, and innovation. To emerge as a true knowledge economy, India needs to focus on innovation, going beyond ‘course work’. Students need to be tested for their ability to use their classroom and other learning to deal with real-life challenges and situations.