From scores to skills: Reimagining education for the future
What does it take to be a successful student? For too long, the answer has been the as usual: get the highest marks. But as we look forward to 2026, it’s crystal clear that xour world is changing faster than our classrooms. To prepare our future generations, it’s crucial to change not just our lessons, but our entire thought process.
Presently, we focus mostly on exams. But in the real world, knowing is just like having information, it’s implication and utilization makes it knowledge. With boom of computers and AI everywhere, jobs opportunities will go to problem-solvers and creative-thinkers. Hence it’s time to shift our mindset from “learning to score” to “learning to know, do, and be”. We must now value that a child’s curiosity and character are not less important than as their grades. To bring this great transformation, a role of a teacher is vital. In 2026 we won’t need textbook expert but a guide and a coach. Teachers job will be to spark interest, ignite curiosity to help students find answers themselves, and their job will be to become a building block for each child’s unique talents. So it is must to help our teachers make this shift, giving them the tools to create lively, thinking classrooms.
Moreover a big change we need is to break down the barriers between subjects. The labels of “Science”, “Commerce” or “Arts” must be discarded. Current problems—like keeping our environment healthy or using the internet wisely —demand ideas from many subjects. A future doctor needs to not just understand people’s disease but also their feelings. A future generation needs to have skills to handle multiple problems and overcome obstacles. So now we must allow our children to mix and match their interests to build their own path.
At Lancers, we embrace this new mindset and transformation by celebrating all kinds of talent. We believe that every child is smart in different ways. Hence shift required is towards recognizing and nurturing multiple intelligences—spatial, kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. Some are competent with numbers, some are born leaders, some are creators of beautiful art, and some are extraordinary at building things with their hands. So school is a place where every kind of intelligence is valued and nurtured. Life skills—resilience, collaboration, digital citizenship, and emotional intelligence—must be integrated as core components of the curriculum and everyday learning, not as optional add-ons.
Lastly, this cannot be possible by schools alone. Parents are pivotal partners in this great journey. The discussion in Parent-Teacher meeting must be more about what our child is exploring, discovering, learning, inventing and less about their rank or numbers on report card. Let’s give wings to our children to play, reading for fun, and asking questions. The need for change is required from exam boards and colleges too. The entrance rules must be to look at a student’s overall abilities, not just one test score. As we stand at the threshold of 2026, the call is not for incremental change but for a courageous reshaping. It is about schools that are not just preparation centres for exams, but fostering grounds for inquisitive, compassionate, and competent citizens. The mindset shift is from asking “What did you score?” to “How do you contribute?”.
The shift is all about not educating students for future but empowering them to create future.
(The author is Prinicpal-CBSE, Lancers Army Schools)
