By Shailendar Bandaru, lecturer, Ravi Teja junior college, in collaboration with Risalat Consultants International
For generations, Indian education has revolved around a familiar question: How many marks did you score? Students spend years preparing for examinations, memorizing textbooks, and learning to reproduce information within a limited time. Although this approach has helped establish academic standards, it has also created a tendency to measure learning primarily through examination performance.
But the world students are entering is very different from the one for which traditional education was designed. Information is readily available, professional environments are changing, and the ability to analyze unfamiliar situations is becoming increasingly important. Knowing facts is no longer enough; understanding how those facts connect, questioning their relevance, and applying them in different circumstances matter just as much.
This raises an important question: Are we teaching students to understand the world, or simply preparing them to answer questions about it?
1. How Indian Education Became Examination-Oriented
The historical development of modern Indian education was significantly influenced by British colonial administration. Thomas Babington Macaulay's Minute on Indian Education in 1835 supported the development of an English-educated class that could assist colonial administration. Although the evolution of Indian education involved several subsequent developments, the colonial period contributed to the expansion of formal, standardized instruction.
After independence, Indian policymakers recognized the need to make education more relevant to the country's social and economic requirements.
The Radhakrishnan Commission (1948–49) examined university education and contributed to the development of the University Grants Commission. The Mudaliar Commission (1952–53) recommended improvements in secondary education, including practical and vocational learning. Later, the Kothari Commission (1964–66) advocated a common educational structure and greater public investment.
The National Policies on Education of 1968 and 1986 expanded educational opportunities and infrastructure. However, examination performance continued to influence classroom practices significantly. Students were frequently encouraged to remember established explanations rather than investigate problems independently.
The challenge today is to preserve academic discipline while making learning more relevant to the demands of modern society.
2. NEP 2020: An Opportunity to Change the Learning Process
The National Education Policy 2020 provides an important framework for moving Indian education beyond rote memorization.
Its 5+3+3+4 curricular structure incorporates early childhood education and recognizes the different stages of children's cognitive development.
Some of its important directions include:
– Experiential learning: Encouraging students to understand concepts through practical activities and real-world applications.
– Multidisciplinary education: Reducing rigid divisions between academic subjects.
– Competency-based assessment: Evaluating understanding and the ability to apply knowledge rather than relying exclusively on memorization.
– Foundational learning: Strengthening literacy and numeracy during the early years.
– Holistic development: Recognizing creativity, communication, critical thinking, and other capabilities.
Initiatives such as NIPUN Bharat, Vidya Pravesh, and Jadui Pitara support foundational and early childhood learning. PARAKH aims to strengthen assessment standards and practices.
These developments indicate a welcome change in policy direction. However, policy objectives alone cannot transform education. Their effectiveness depends on how teachers approach lessons and how actively students participate in the learning process.
3. The Modern Classroom Needs More Than Information Delivery
Today's students have access to information through smartphones, digital platforms, online courses, and educational resources. Yet access to information does not automatically translate into understanding.
A student can watch an explanation of international relations, read about a historical event, or obtain an answer through an AI tool without necessarily understanding the underlying concepts.
This is where classroom teaching becomes important.
In my view, the teacher's responsibility should not end with explaining a topic and completing the prescribed syllabus. A teacher should help students develop the ability to approach unfamiliar subjects, identify important questions, and investigate possible explanations.
The objective is not to make every lesson entertaining. It is to make students intellectually involved in what they are learning.
4. My Approach: Establish the Foundations and Let Students Take Over
My approach to teaching Political Science and International Relations is based on a straightforward idea: I introduce the subject, establish its foundations, and then allow students to take the discussion forward.
For instance, consider a lesson on the changing international order.
I would begin by explaining the historical background: the Cold War, the emergence of the United States as the dominant global power, China's economic and strategic rise, and the changing influence of international institutions.
Once students understand these foundations, I would introduce questions rather than immediately provide conclusions.
What if the United States had followed a different foreign policy after the Cold War? Does China's rise necessarily mean that another Cold War is inevitable? Can India maintain strategic autonomy while strengthening relationships with competing global powers?
These questions change the direction of the classroom. Students start suggesting alternative explanations, considering different possibilities, and examining developments from perspectives they may not have previously encountered.
The next step is to encourage them to identify patterns. For example, students examining India's relationships with Russia, the United States, and China can investigate how national interests, economic dependencies, security concerns, and historical relationships influence foreign policy decisions.
Instead of remembering individual diplomatic events, they begin recognizing the principles connecting them, such as strategic autonomy, national interest, and balance of power.
I particularly value the alternative explanations and hypothetical situations students introduce during these discussions. They often lead to questions that extend beyond the original lesson. Rather than dismissing these questions because they are outside the prescribed syllabus, I see them as opportunities to deepen understanding.
The teacher still provides direction, corrects misconceptions, and ensures that arguments are grounded in evidence. However, students gradually become responsible for exploring the subject and constructing their own interpretations.
The intention is not to teach students my conclusions, but to give them the tools to arrive at conclusions of their own.
5. Turning Digital Access into Independent Research
One of the most useful outcomes of this teaching approach is that curiosity begins to drive further learning.
When students develop questions of their own, they have a reason to explore information beyond the classroom. The internet then becomes a valuable research resource rather than merely a place to find ready-made answers.
Students can examine government publications, United Nations reports, research papers, historical archives, and different news sources. They can compare how different institutions and countries interpret the same international development.
However, research also requires judgement. Students must learn to distinguish facts from opinions, recognize the interests behind particular narratives, verify claims, and evaluate the reliability of their sources.
This is especially important in Political Science and International Relations, where the same event can be interpreted differently depending on the political, economic, or strategic perspective being considered.
Digital literacy should therefore involve more than knowing how to search for information. It should include knowing what information is relevant, how to verify it, and how to use it to construct a convincing argument.
6. What Teachers and Parents Can Do Differently
This transformation does not necessarily require expensive infrastructure or sophisticated technology. It can begin with changes in everyday learning habits.
For teachers:
1. Begin lessons with questions and problems that encourage investigation.
2. Connect textbook concepts with contemporary developments.
3. Allow students to present alternative explanations and challenge established arguments.
4. Evaluate reasoning, evidence, and interpretation alongside subject knowledge.
5. Teach students how to research, verify information, and identify unreliable sources.
For parents:
1. Ask children what they discovered or understood rather than concentrating exclusively on examination marks.
2. Encourage discussions about everyday developments and current affairs.
3. Support reading, independent exploration, and creative activities.
4. Help children develop responsible digital habits.
Small changes in these practices can gradually create an environment where asking questions becomes as important as remembering answers.
Conclusion: Preparing Students for a World That Keeps Changing
Education should prepare students not only for examinations and employment but also for a world in which circumstances, technologies, and established assumptions continuously change.
A student who memorizes the causes of an international conflict may be able to reproduce them in an examination. A student who understands the historical background, identifies the interests involved, recognizes recurring patterns, and considers alternative outcomes develops a different level of understanding.
The difference lies in the learning process itself.
India's National Education Policy 2020 provides an opportunity to move in this direction, but meaningful change will ultimately depend on what happens inside classrooms.
Teachers need to create opportunities for students to explore beyond prescribed explanations. Students, in turn, must be willing to question, investigate, and revise their understanding when new evidence emerges.
**The real measure of education should not be how effectively a student remembers what was taught, but how independently that student can think when confronted with something new.**
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