In today’s competitive education landscape, parents and students often celebrate the abundance of choices — multiple boards (CBSE, ICSE, IB, state boards), diverse subjects, extracurricular activities, global programmes, and countless colleges. Yet, a thought-provoking article in The Hindu argues that this perceived freedom is largely an illusion. Beneath the surface of flexibility lies a deeper standardization that pushes students toward conformity rather than genuine personal growth.
Authored by Kunal Vasudeva, Managing Director and co-founder of the Indian School of Hospitality, the piece highlights how urban Indian students are building impressive profiles from an early age — Olympiads, leadership roles, NGOs, competitions, social impact projects, and international exposures — not necessarily out of passion, but to signal “selectability” in a hyper-competitive system.
The Core Argument: Choice That Feels Safe Is No Choice at All
On the surface, education appears open and flexible. Students can seemingly pursue anything. In reality, they often choose paths that align with what admissions committees and society reward. This creates a “shadow curriculum” — an unwritten set of expectations that operates outside the official syllabus.
Students start crafting portfolios as early as Class 10, managing them like young professionals. The pressure comes from multiple directions: ambitious parents, schools chasing rankings, coaching centres, certification industries, and social media. What began as a move beyond rote marks has evolved into another form of standardization, only dressed in modern, impressive packaging.
The author warns: “We tell students they can be anything and then reward only a few things.”
How Uniformity Is Rewarded Over Individuality
Drawing from Sir Ken Robinson’s famous critique, the article points out that modern education systems often reward uniformity more than individuality. Schools frequently fail to recognise talent when it “looks different” — whether it is a student who thinks best through movement, stories, creation, or people rather than traditional academic ladders.
In the Indian context:
- Students passionate about history may hesitate, viewing it as “impractical.”
- Those drawn to design are often advised to treat it merely as a hobby.
- Diverse thinking styles — through numbers, systems, or kinesthetic learning — get sidelined in favour of narrow, measurable excellence.
India does not lack intelligent students, the article asserts. What it lacks is sufficient space for “uneven genius” — the unique, uneven ways in which young minds truly flourish.
The Hidden Costs of the Illusion
When education prioritises “signals” of success over deep learning and problem-solving, the consequences are significant:
- Students become highly efficient at achieving someone else’s definition of success.
- Many experience fatigue, detachment, and confusion after securing admissions.
- Long-term societal impact includes reduced originality, moral courage, and the ability to solve novel problems.
The real measure of education, according to the author, is not how impressive a student’s profile looks at 18, but how clearly they can think at 25, adapt at 35, and responsibly tackle unseen challenges later in life. True education should widen possibilities and help individuals grow into their authentic selves — not fit into easily measurable boxes.
Parental and Systemic Pressures Fueling the Problem
The article identifies a powerful ecosystem reinforcing this illusion:
- Parents seeking assured futures for their children.
- Schools focused on visible outcomes and rankings.
- Coaching and certification industries profiting from the race.
- Social media amplifying curated success stories.
This combination turns genuine interests into performances. Choice feels safe only within narrow corridors, stripping away the uncertainty that real freedom demands.
Why This Matters for Indian Education Today
In an era of NEP 2020’s emphasis on multidisciplinary learning, flexibility, and holistic development, the piece serves as a timely caution. While policies promote choice on paper, ground realities — intense competition for limited seats in top institutions, parental anxiety, and market-driven education — often push systems back toward uniformity.
The illusion persists because it feels productive and safe. However, a healthy education system must nurture diverse talents early, embrace discomfort in real choices, and prioritise thinking and problem-solving over mere signaling.
A Call for Honest Reflection
The article urges educators, parents, and policymakers to question the current model. Education’s true purpose is to build thinkers and problem-solvers, not efficient profile-builders. Allowing students space to explore uneven paths, experience failure, and develop confidence to stand apart could foster more innovative, adaptable, and responsible future citizens.
As the author aptly concludes, when choice feels comfortable only inside one narrow corridor, it has already stopped being real.
