CRITICAL THINKING VERSUS ROTE MEMORISATION

 

Meghna Dhulia writes in The Times of India of 22 May 2026

Marks over mind: The crisis of curiosity in Indian schools.

"Define photosynthesis." The teacher writes on the board in a classroom. Within seconds, students recite text book definitions, word for word. None lags.

Then she writes, " Why do plants need sunlight even when they already have water and carbon dioxide?"

There are very few takers. 

The contrast captures in essence the anemia in the Indian Educational System.

Students are trained to remember answers. They are discouraged from asking questions. If you put up a question you are ridiculed or even punished for the intransigence.

Across the nation, marks are the ultimate currency.

Board examinations, entrance tests and coaching culture reward speed, accuracy and memorization.

Students are made to learn that posing difficult questions would only slow them down in the race for marks. 

Curiosity has no place in the system. While completion of the syllabi is primary for the teachers, the students are often in a mad race to secure ranks.  They are aware, ranks determine their advancement in life. Any failure there, they would be pushed aside, down a steep precipice. The slide would be quick and fast. It would be drilled into their minds, retrieval of the  lost ground is impossible.

However in the contemporary situation, despite students scoring exceptionally high marks in board examinations and competitive tests, employers and higher education institutions often express concern about gaps in problem solving ability, communication skills, creativity and practical application of knowledge.

Similarly, the rapid expansion of coaching centre culture has normalised speed, repetition and test oriented preparation over conceptual understanding and intellectual curiosity.

Unfortunately, the casualty in this web is critical thinking.

But in an education culture built around marks and where parents often measure success through scores, the overhauling of the system in existence  is a challenging proposition. It is further deepened as competitive exams continue to reward intense preparation patterns.

The imbalance can only be addressed through shifting the focus of education from rote memorization to critical thinking and conceptual understanding. It alone would satisfy the demands of the modern world, where employers seek creativity and analytical thinking  than the memorising of information.

The society needs to understand that learning is no longer the ability to memorise. True learning occurs when  students are oriented to possess ability to frame the right questions and apply reasoning to solve problems.

Their curiosity should be aroused and never stifled to get the best out of them

I fully endorse what is stated here.

Let me go back to my school days.

I grew up in a remote corner in Kerala. We had a Govt High School there. Far removed from the capital of Kerala or other cities or towns no one ever told us the changes they were effecting in the question paper for SSLC.  We were prepared by our teachers on the basis of the previous year's question paper. It was alright for five days. On the sixth day was Maths. We were lost as questions for thirty percent marks were application based. They pulled this trick because they wanted to reduce the first classes from previous year's 14000 to the minimum to reduce the pressure on college admissions. It was quite unfair to the students from.such remote areas as they had no inkling of the change over to the application based questions. Finally they suceeded in bringing 14000 first classes to 2000 first classes that year. The consequence was students from remote areas suffered.

Well, we have no objection to reforms in examinations. But it must be done  giving prior notice. The reforms are bound to fail if students are not equipped to face what is on offer.