Every year, millions of Indian students go through the emotional rollercoaster of board exams—burning the midnight oil, surviving tuition marathons, and battling anxiety. But what if all that effort is for a system that’s no longer relevant? In this thought-provoking conversation, Dr. Malpani challenges the very purpose of exams and offers parents a radically different, more meaningful way to evaluate learning—one that prioritizes curiosity, creativity, and real-world skills over rote memorization.
Parent: Dr. Malpani, I need your honest opinion. My son just wrote his Board exams, and the entire family has been on edge for months. Sleepless nights, endless tuition, and now that it’s done… I can’t help but ask—do these exams even matter anymore?
Dr. Malpani: I’m so glad you brought this up. It’s a conversation every parent should have. The hard truth is—our current exam system has become increasingly meaningless. It was originally designed to assess what students know. But today, it’s lost touch with reality.
Parent: What do you mean by “meaningless”? Aren’t exams supposed to show how well a student has learned?
Dr. Malpani: That’s the theory. But in practice, exams today rarely measure true learning or real-world skills. They test your memory, your ability to mug up answers, and how well you can reproduce what a textbook says within a fixed time frame. That’s not competence. That’s performance under pressure.
Parent: So marks don’t reflect ability?
Dr. Malpani: Not at all. Getting 95% doesn’t mean a child can think critically, solve problems, or collaborate with others—skills that are essential for success in life. On the other hand, a child who scores 60% might be brilliant at coding, drawing, or storytelling. But the exam system has no space to recognize that.
Parent: But aren’t marks still important? They’re how students get into colleges and jobs.
Dr. Malpani: That’s precisely the problem. We’ve built a system where children are taught to chase marks, not mastery. And that chase comes at a cost—stress, anxiety, burnout. Students are under so much pressure to perform in one exam that it kills their love for learning.
Parent: My son barely eats during exams. He’s constantly worried about how he’ll do. It breaks my heart.
Dr. Malpani: And that’s not an exception. It’s the norm. Parents think they’re helping their child succeed by pushing them to score higher, but they’re actually reinforcing a system that treats children like data points instead of individuals with unique strengths.
Parent: But isn’t that why coaching classes and test prep centers are booming? Everyone’s trying to outscore everyone else.
Dr. Malpani: Yes, and that only makes things worse. We’ve outsourced learning to tuition factories. Children spend more time memorizing than understanding. And the system is so obsessed with ranks and cut-offs that it leaves no room for curiosity or creativity.
Parent: And what about the recent exam paper leaks and cheating scandals? It’s all over the news.
Dr. Malpani: That’s another sign of a broken system. When everything rides on one exam, people will resort to unethical means. Why wouldn’t they, when the stakes are so high? It breeds a culture of shortcuts—coaching, copying, cramming—and completely erodes integrity.
Parent: So what’s the alternative? We can’t just remove exams, can we?
Dr. Malpani: We don’t need to abolish assessments—we need to rethink how we assess. Instead of one-size-fits-all exams, we should focus on micro-credentials, continuous evaluation, portfolios, real-world projects, and peer feedback. Let students show what they can do, not just what they can write in three hours.
Parent: That sounds ideal, but where does a parent like me even begin?
Dr. Malpani: By reclaiming your child’s education. Don’t wait for the government or school boards to change. Start a digital learning pod in your community. Let your child explore subjects through AI tutors, videos, books, and hands-on projects. Let them learn at their own pace, in a safe, encouraging space.
Parent: But how do I know they’re actually learning if there are no exams?
Dr. Malpani: You’ll know when you see them doing—building websites, solving real problems, explaining concepts, collaborating with peers. That’s far more valuable than any mark sheet. Trust the process. Trust your child.
Parent: You’re giving me a lot to think about, Dr. Malpani. I’ve been so caught up in the rat race that I forgot what learning should actually feel like.
Dr. Malpani: It’s never too late to pivot. Exams have become a poor proxy for education. But we can flip the system—starting with our own homes, our own communities.
Take matters in your own hands by starting your own digital learning pod — your children will not get a second chance! 👉 https://www.teachtoearn.in/start-a-teach-to-earn-learning-pod/