India Shining! Is it really so? NO! Our nation has two stories. One story is about reality, poverty, unemployment, inequality, illiteracy, scarcity and deprivation. Another story is about potential-potential to create economic, cultural, social and ecological wealth for our citizens. What will be India's story tomorrow? What happens in our classroom today will happen in our society tomorrow. This is why a teacher's role in educating a child is the most important work of all. But today's education system’s results are depressing and unfortunate. No doubt students are scoring 99 percent in Boards, but are they actually learning? Or it is just rote learning? Does scoring a 100 in Math’s, means the child has got an Einstein mind, or does a score of 100 in Social Science prove the child to be a genius in History? Yes, they might be securing cent percent in these subjects, but the fact is that, mostly they don't know what it was that they studied and wrote to secure these marks. Indeed, this is unfortunate. The reality is, we teach a theoretical world and avoid practicality. Teachers teach 'teaching-for-examinations' and not 'teaching-for-understanding'. The problem is, our education system is too bulky and the students are made to learn too fast. It's clear, we need rapid reforms. There needs to be a shift from facts to skills. Given that there would be a host of new careers requiring specialized skills. Our education system and thinking needs to be flexible and innovative. Don't just restrict yourself to Engineering or Medicine aimed studies. There is a new arena unfolding in front of us. A new world grows with new visionaries, with new approaches. One needs to look beyond the horizon and try out the new creative fields rather than walking on the traditional road. We need to make our learning much more interactive at all levels right from kindergarten onwards. Also needed is that Board exams should shift from rote questions to those of test understanding. A regular external assessment is required to gauge the health of the system Remember:

What I hear, I forget.

What I see, I Remember.

What I do, I understand.

(Confucius)