The Quiet Change

For the last three years, working across Kashmir and other parts of India, I have interacted with students, parents, educators, civil society members; and an occasional encounter with bureaucrats and politicians too. In all those interactions one troubling pattern emerges—a growing disillusionment with formal schooling. A significant number of children express unhappiness, questioning the relevance of their education. Parents, too, share deep concerns, increasingly exploring alternatives like homeschooling or experimental schools. Yet, these alternatives lack structured frameworks, reliable data, and regulatory clarity, leaving families navigating an uncertain path.

Meanwhile, national data on student achievement remains dismal. Despite policy reforms like the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, implementation has been fractured, half-hearted, and poorly monitored. The gaps are glaring, weak infrastructure, inadequate teacher training, outdated curricula, and a lack of accountability—reducing education to a checklist of compliance rather than a transformative experience. There is a great mismatch between schools and future needs - the evolving world at an exponential pace, AI, automation, and digital ecosystems are reshaping careers and skills. Yet, our schools remain stuck in an archaic model, producing “toppers” who excel in rote learning but lack critical thinking, creativity, and emotional resilience. The system prioritizes exam scores over deep learning, leaving students ill-equipped for an uncertain future.

The key concerns are outdated curriculum, focus on memorization rather than problem-solving, innovation, or adaptability. Another concern is teacher preparedness. Many educators lack training in modern pedagogies, getting a hand over digital tools, or internalising socio-emotional learning. Another worrying element is  the parental anxiety. Our families are torn between the rigidity of traditional schooling and the unstructured nature of alternative education.

Then there are gaps in accountability. We have educational institutions that seldom look inwards. The idea of doing occasional audits is missing. Those who manage schools need to understand the vital importance of  evaluating things within – doing an audit. This audit would make a worthwhile contribution to the growth of an instituion if only done in a professional manner and without fearing to know the weaknesses and inadequacies that might have stuck the institution overtime.

So our crisis is deep, certainly; but these crisis are not insurmountable. If certain things are taken care of, this crisis will start thinning. So what do we exactly need to do. Something of the changes to be embraced would be: shift from rote learning to skill-based education, integrate critical thinking, creativity, and  emotional intelligence into curricula, and promote project-based and experiential learning , rather than textbook regurgitation.

Since teacher is the core of any educational institution, the centrality of a teacher needs to be recognised. Empower teachers as facilitators, not just instructors; invest in continuous teacher training, especially in tech-integrated and student-cantered pedagogies; also encourage mentorship and peer-learning networks among educators. Strengthen alternative education by raising efficient structures, develop clear frameworks for homeschooling and experimental schools, ensuring quality without stifling innovation and use data-driven models to assess what works and scale successful experiments. But while we do so, the importance of regular school need not be undermined.

Then there is a finer element. Though we cannot escape accountability, but  there is something beyond audits. Our schools need to go past compliance checks to outcome-based evaluations—measuring real learning, not just attendance or infrastructure. What is supremely  important is the parent engagement. We need to involve parents and students in feedback loops to keep institutions responsive.

Technology being an inescapable imperative now, we need to embrace technology. But remember, without losing human touch. We need to leverage AI and ed-tech for personalized learning but ensure that human interaction remains central to development.

Though our schools are doing a good job in many respects, but in some ways our current system is failing our children. We cannot afford to keep producing high-scoring graduates with diminished life skills in a world that demands adaptability, innovation, and resilience. The NEP 2020 is just a start, we have taken the first step.  But without being serious on its implementation, in its monitoring, and without being mindful of the cultural shifts, even the best of policy frameworks it risks becoming another missed opportunity.

The question is not just how to reform schools—but whether we have the collective will to prioritize real learning over bureaucratic formalities. If we don’t act now, we risk an entire generation growing up unprepared for the challenges ahead.

For decades, the warning signs have been clear—classrooms stifle creativity, bureaucracy strangles innovation, and policy implementation lacks intellectual rigour. Yet, here we are, with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, repeating the same mistakes.

The appointed custodians of this reform are ill-prepared. Where were the pilot projects, model schools, and real-world testing before nationwide rollout? Instead, we see hasty implementation through administrative diktats, reducing a visionary policy to another checklist of compliance. The result? No deep learning, no systemic change—just another layer of bureaucratic mediocrity.

Ivan Illich warned us long ago: “It is in the classroom that the child’s creativity is murdered.” Decades later, his cry echoes in our hollow halls of learning. Books like “Deschooling Society” and “Teaching as a Subversive Activity” exposed the factory-model schooling that crushes curiosity, critical thought, and individuality. Yet, our system remains mechanized, soulless, and dangerously outdated.

Where is the visible thinking? Where is the action research? Where is the freedom to question, experiment, and reimagine? Instead, we have standardized minds, fear-driven pedagogy, and a rigid hierarchy that rewards conformity over genius. This is not just failure—it is betrayal. A betrayal of children who deserve thinkers, not memorizers; of teachers shackled by red tape; of parents desperate for meaningful education.

We cannot wait for another policy cycle, we need real pilots, not paperwork—model schools that prove NEP’s ideals work. Teachers as thinkers, not just syllabus dispensers. We need freedom to innovate, we need classrooms that ignite minds.

The system is broken. The time for half-measures and bureaucratic theatre is over. Either we dismantle the machinery of mindless schooling—or we condemn another generation to a future they are utterly unprepared for.

The choice is ours. But how long will we keep making the wrong one? What’s the way forward? Policy reforms must meet grassroots innovation. Parents, educators, and policymakers must collaborate to redesign education as a dynamic, future-ready ecosystem. The time to act is now—before the gap becomes irreversible.

 Dr. Farooq Wasil, a published author, and an educationist, currently CAO of Vasal Education Group and Founding Director of Thinksite. He has over four decades of experience in the field of Education Management—setting up, operating and managing Schools.