If I could change one thing about education in India, I'd reduce the huge focus on memorising for final exams and put much more weight on practical projects and continuous assessment. I'm a forty-nine-year-old chemistry lecturer at a college in Lucknow, and I've seen the effects of the current system for over twenty years.
It would mainly affect secondary school students, especially those in the last four years, when the pressure of board exams becomes intense. Many of them spend evenings in coaching centres learning model answers rather than really understanding concepts.
It could be introduced gradually. Schools might begin by making project work count for, say, a third of the final mark, rising over several years. Teachers would need training in how to design and assess projects fairly, and there would have to be clear guidelines so marks aren't simply handed out to favourite students. Science, for example, could include real experiments and short research reports.
I think the change is needed because I see the results every July when new students arrive. Many of them have excellent marks but can't explain why a reaction happens or carry out a basic experiment safely. They've learned how to pass, not how to think. In contrast, the few students who did project-based work at school are more curious and confident. There's a wellbeing side too. A single exam deciding your future creates enormous stress, and every year we hear sad stories about young people who couldn't cope. Spreading assessment across the year would be fairer and kinder, and I genuinely think it would produce better scientists, engineers and citizens.