What ails higher secondary education

MAKING OUR STUDENTS THINK, NOT JUST REMEMBER

- Kunal Vasudeva

INDIA is an examination economy built on fear. We have shaped our school system to optimize for clearance, not capacity. From Grade 9, the student's path narrows. Each year moves closer to a final score, a single-day test, and an entrance cut-off. Curriculum choices, teaching methods, and assessment are aligned to this logic. The outcome is a system that prepares students to qualify, but not to understand.

Higher secondary education, covering Grades 9 through 12, is meant to function as a bridge between school and the world. This is the stage where students should be introduced to complexity, exposed to disciplines, and encouraged to form judgment. Instead, these years are consumed by preparation cycles, board syllabi, and performance anxiety.