Our Director, Biswajit Jha, shares how Epic Public School is transforming education with a focus on practical skills and real-world learning by creating innovative thinkers.
Dear Students and Guardians,
Picture this: you’re about to hire a driver. He’s come for an interview. Now, would you ask him for his driving school grades? I highly doubt it. What’s the one thing you’d want to know? His driving skill, naturally. You’d ask him to take the wheel and see how well he handles the car. If he follows the rules of the road and drives safely, only then would you check his license. That would suffice, wouldn’t it? If he has a valid license, you wouldn’t give two hoots about his driving school marks, would you?
Yet, in our education system, nobody seems to care about actual skill. Everyone’s obsessed with marks. Now, don’t get me wrong-good marks are all well and good. They show a certain level of dedication, focus, and seriousness. High marks can help you get into a top-notch institution. But do they really help when it comes to landing a job?
Let’s face it, good marks don’t necessarily reflect how well someone knows their subject or, more importantly, how they can apply that knowledge in the real world. It’s the skillset that counts, and sadly, marks alone don’t guarantee that. This is why marks alone won’t cut the mustard when it comes to securing a good job– and it’s only going to get harder as time goes on.
The real problem I have with our current education system is that it fails to produce a‘skilful driver,’ so to speak. The system doesn’t give the driver a chance to ‘drive’ in real life. How can we expect to produce skilled individuals when there’s no practical experience to back it up?
Reading theory and cramming facts won’t get you very far unless you know how to put theory into practice. When you cram, the information sticks around for only a short while – a few months at best. And in today’s world, do we really need to store all this information in our heads? It’s all just a quick Google search away! So why hire someone based solely on the information they’ve memorised?
Our current education and evaluation system doesn’t test practical skills or real-world abilities, and that’s the crux of the issue. This is precisely why we have so many educated young people without jobs – or worse, they’re unemployable.
According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the unemployment rate among graduates and postgraduates in India is nearly 30%, a staggering nine times higher than among those who are illiterate. This clearly shows that the more formally educated you are, the harder it can be to find a job. This is because our education system places too much emphasis on theory, exams, and marks, rather than honing practical skills.
Yes, theory matters. Yes, marks matter. But learning – real, meaningful learning – is the most important thing in this information age. In today’s world, where government jobs are rarer than hens’ teeth (most government ventures are, sadly, failures), anyone with the right skillset can secure a good job in the private sector or even start their own business.
The situation has become so dire that we’ve failed to teach our students basic life skills – like making their own bed, doing everyday chores, or looking after themselves when their parents aren’t around.
Again, theory and marks have their place, but in this age of the information revolution, actual learning is what matters most. Learning that sticks with you for life. Real-life, hands-on learning helps students remember things because they’ve experienced them.
As we move into an era where machines will handle most of our routine tasks, the question that haunts me is: What will our students do? Will they be jobless? The reason I wished to establish a school is that I wanted to change the status quo in education. From day one at Epic Public School, I’ve aimed to do something that enhances students’ skills. That’s why we introduced the ‘Epic Approach,’ with our Innovation Lab and Creativity Hub. When students are encouraged to think outside the box, they come up with real-life solutions.
Their problem-solving skills are improving every day because, in real life, there are no standard questions. Life is full of uncertainty and challenges. Our high school students need to understand this, and I want to equip them with the skills to face this uncertain world.
I want our students to know that they won’t always be praised in life – they’ll face criticism and rejection, too. But if they have creative minds, they’ll be able to solve any problem that comes their way, no matter how daunting.
Machines can handle routine tasks, but they can’t invent or create. That’s why we need our students to have a ‘maker’s mindset’– to be creative, imaginative, and capable of analysing problems and solving them.
At Epic Public School, our goal is to develop independent thinkers. If our students can’t take care of themselves, how will they take care of their families, society, or the country? And I believe this needs to start in high school. That’s why we’ve introduced life skills classes at Epic, where students are learning about entrepreneurship, farming, gardening, creative writing, public speaking, communication skills, financial literacy, household chores, and even how to solve basic electrical and plumbing problems.
Alongside achieving good marks and gaining admission to prestigious colleges, we’re developing independent thinkers, creators, and innovators who will solve tomorrow’s problems with their knowledge and skills. I’m confident that, within the next ten years, you’ll see a remarkable difference in the lives of our students of Epic Public School.
Yours sincerely,
Your Director Sir (Biswajit Jha)
