By Atul Kumar, CEO Online, PhysicsWallah
India’s 24.68 crore school students spend their days cramming facts and formulas, chasing examination scores that test memory more than knowledge. This rote-heavy learning system worked in a predictable world; however, today’s reality includes AI reshaping jobs and a climate crisis demanding bold solutions, which calls for something bolder. In my opinion, imagination should be at the core of every classroom. As someone working in online education, I’ve seen how clinging to memorisation leaves young minds anxious and underprepared, while sparking creativity helps them reach their true potential.
The data is stark and urgent. Only 42.6% of Indian graduates were employable in 2024, down from 44.3%, because employers spot massive gaps in creativity, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills, which rote learning majorly ignores. Around 80% of students in Classes 9-12 report exam-induced anxiety, turning what should be a joyful discovery into a relentless pressure cooker that kills curiosity before it even gets a chance to bloom. These aren’t isolated statistics. They reveal a system churning out test-takers, not trailblazers ready for a future where adaptability rules.
If we take a look at the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025, creative thinking tops the list of rising skills through 2030, alongside resilience, AI fluency, and lifelong learning. Jobs won’t reward those who remember the most formulas, but those who can imagine new applications, connect unrelated ideas, and pivot amid uncertainty. In my time and experience of scaling digital learning platforms, I’ve watched thousands of students light up when lessons shift from “repeat this” to “what if?”, proving that imagination isn’t a luxury, it’s the engine of progress.
India’s National Education Policy 2020 offers a powerful blueprint, prioritising experiential learning, holistic development, and tech integration to foster creativity right from primary grades. A 2025 nationwide movement crossed 15 million pledges to reject rote learning, showing the hunger for change at a grassroots level. Yet implementation somehow stumbles. Studies show how 75% of Class 3 students still can’t read simple Grade 2 texts, a symptom of entrenched habits. We need assessments that value application over regurgitation, curricula blending projects which aim to solve real-world problems, and teacher training that equips educators as guides or mentors, not drill sergeants.
In the online education space, where I work every day, technology proves its worth not as a replacement for humans, but as an amplifier or a catalyst. Virtual simulations let students tackle climate models or code ethical AI dilemmas, failing safely and iterating fast. Interactive platforms connect peers across cities for collaborative breakthroughs, while data insights personalise paths to nurture individual sparks of genius. But tech alone falls flat without empathetic mentors who probe “why” and celebrate bold questions over perfect answers.
This isn’t just about schools. It’s a societal pivot. Parents must cheer creators as loudly as rank-holders. Policymakers need to fund teacher upskilling and scale NEP pilots. Industry leaders, like those in edtech, can partner to bridge skill gaps through sharing tools that make imagination accessible at a large scale. A recent push saw over 15 million voices unite against rote, proving we’re not starting from zero.
Imagine 24.68 crore young Indians in buzzing classrooms, debating topics like ethics in AI, prototyping sustainable cities, and questioning assumptions without fear. They’d close employability chasms, fuel start-ups, and solve India’s toughest challenges. Memory lays the foundation, facts we need to build on, but imagination constructs the future.
We stand at a crossroads. Clinging to old ways risks a generation adrift in disruption. Embracing bold reform honours our youth’s potential. As education leaders, together we can champion this shift, train teachers relentlessly, redesign exams, and integrate tech humanely. Because in a world demanding innovators, our classrooms can’t afford to teach memory alone. They must ignite imagination and nothing less will do.
