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The Future of Classroom Engineering: Beyond Theory, Beyond Borders

By Dr Basavaraj G Katageri, Pro-Vice Chancellor, GITAM University, Bengaluru

EdexLive Desk

Education’s at a tipping point right now. Classrooms can’t just be four walls and rows of desks anymore—they need to be engineered, on purpose. Not just in the technical sense, but as spaces that are carefully designed and always evolving to match how people actually learn, share, and use knowledge in the real world. The classroom of the future isn’t some static spot where you sit and take notes. It’s alive. It’s collaborative, adaptable, and focused on real outcomes. We’re stepping away from pure theory and moving past borders—literally and figuratively.

From Passivity to Real Experience

Here’s the thing: experience isn’t just part of the deal, it is the whole point. We’re not adding hands-on learning as some afterthought; it is there front and center. Future ready classrooms focus on getting students involved, solving substantial problems, and significantly doing stuff, not just memorizing facts. Learning connects to substantial life through industry projects, simulations, case studies, fieldwork, design challenges, and those long lasting internships that genuinely test you.

Theory counts, but it only makes sense once you really see it in motion. To make all this work, classrooms need a serious makeover. They should feel like spaces where students team up, experiment, and try out their ideas. It is about letting people test what they think, deal with setbacks, learn from failure, and build things that really matter. When a classroom runs like that, what you learn sticks with you. It is active, not passive. Real, not abstract.

Classrooms Without Borders

Knowledge isn’t trapped in one place anymore. If classrooms stay closed off, they become obsolete. The future classroom doesn’t care about physical demographics—it’s a meeting point for all kinds of ideas, cultures, and expertise. Think global joint programs, virtual classrooms with students from everywhere, international projects, faculty swaps. Digital tools make this possible for everyone, not just a lucky few. Now, with collaborative platforms and hybrid learning, students naturally get exposed to the world. That’s how you build real cultural smarts, adaptability, and the guts to work anywhere. These aren’t just nice extras—they’re essential if you want to survive and thrive in today’s world.

NEP and the Reinvented Classroom

India’s National Education Policy isn’t just nudging things forward—it’s demanding change. The NEP says goodbye to rigid systems and the one-size-fits-all template mindset. Multidisciplinary courses, flexible entry and exit, credit transfers, more choices for students, it all means schools have to rethink how they build and run classrooms.

This policy turns the old model on its head. It puts students in control, letting them mix subjects, set their own pace, and follow their interests or career goals. Schools have to change everything, teaching styles, how they track progress, even the teacher’s role itself. Teachers aren’t just content deliverers anymore. They’re mentors, guides, architects of learning. And assessments? Those get an overhaul too. Instead of just exams, it’s more about skills, projects, portfolios, and how students tackle real-world problems. If schools want to stay relevant, this isn’t optional. They need to transform their classrooms.

Centres of Excellence as the new Anchors

Centres of Excellence matter more than ever. They’re not just shiny labs or research rooms. They’re built around challenges and big ideas, acting as hubs where teaching, research, industry, and creativity come together. Students get access to resources and mentors you just won’t find in a regular classroom.

But that’s not all. Centres of Excellence make sure team projects and hands-on work are baked into the system. They bring together students from different backgrounds, plug them into industry, and push them into research that actually means something. This keeps learning tough, relevant, and tied to the real world.

Building the Future, Not Just Waiting for It

Here’s the truth: classrooms won’t just magically improve. Schools have to make it happen. That means choosing to design learning spaces that value experience, global viewpoints, NEP-driven flexibility, and Centres of Excellence. It takes investment in teachers, partnerships, and leadership that welcomes and implements new ideas.

When classrooms become living, breathing ecosystems of knowledge, students stop just memorizing facts. They start learning for real.

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