The learning crisis: When schooling does not become learning

This is a real instance from my time as a school principal. Although it happened decades ago, the student’s helplessness and our inability to help him still trouble me. The student was a cheerful, confident and articulate student, fluent in languages, well informed, and passionate about innovations in science and technology. He represented the school in several competitions, led the assembly and was a member of the prefect council. Why, then, did his mathematics grades keep falling with every successive class? By the time he reached Class X, his teachers, parents, tutors and school were unable to find an effective way to help him. His continuing struggle eroded his cheer and self-confidence, leaving him increasingly stressed and discouraged. Eventually, he could not clear the mathematics board examination.His experience raises a fundamental question: how are schooling and learning different? Schooling provides the curriculum, timetable and opportunity. Learning is the process through which children develop knowledge, understanding and skills—and become capable of using them independently. A school can report strong examination results, completed syllabi and successful promotions while some children continue to struggle with essential concepts. The institutional picture may appear reassuring; the individual learner’s experience may be very different from it.The learning crisis begins wherever schooling fails to develop understanding that children can apply independently, including in unfamiliar situations. It may affect many students, a small group or a single learner. For each child affected, persistent difficulty can become a personal crisis, weakening confidence, participation and the willingness to persevere.National findings support the concern. ASER 2024 found that more than half of Class V children in rural India could not read a Class II-level text, despite improvement since 2022. PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024 reported an average mathematics score of 39 per cent among Class IX students in recognised private schools of India. The surveys invite schools to examine their own evidence. Children are progressing through classes; is their learning progressing with them?When a learning gap becomes a learning debtConsider a student who calculates percentages correctly but cannot explain why a twenty per cent discount followed by another ten per cent discount is not equivalent to thirty per cent off. The student knows the procedure but struggles to apply the concept in a different situation. Classroom learning may have remained confined to familiar exercises.A learning gap is a gap in the knowledge, understanding or skills needed at a particular stage. If a child has not understood fractions, learning percentages, ratios and algebra may become difficult. An unresolved gap can grow into a learning debt: each new topic builds on concepts the learner has not yet understood, making it increasingly difficult to catch up.Completed notebooks, polished projects and satisfactory report cards can conceal this difficulty. Principals need a clear process that connects institutional priorities with individual progress: making learning the priority, identifying difficulties, providing support and checking each learner’s progress. These four steps offer school principals a practical roadmap.1. Establish learning as the institutional priorityThe questions a principal asks in academic reviews communicate what the school values. Questions about syllabus completion, results and promotion remain useful but must be accompanied by questions about learning and understanding.What have students learned? Can they apply it independently? What evidence demonstrates this? Who needs support, and when will its effectiveness be reviewed?Meetings should conclude with specific decisions, clearly assigned responsibilities and review dates.2. Identify specific gaps through evidenceClear learning outcomes are essential at every level in every subject. What should students understand, what should they be able to do, and what would demonstrate that capability? Competency-based learning translates these questions into purposeful classroom tasks. Students expected to reason need opportunities to explain their reasoning. Those expected to apply knowledge need appropriate opportunities to use it beyond familiar exercises.In language, students interpret an unfamiliar passage and support their interpretation with evidence from the text.In science, students predict what changing one condition in an experiment might do and explain why.In social science, students compare two accounts of an event and explain how their perspectives differ.In each case, students provide evidence of learning through what they explain, justify or apply. A correct answer may follow a memorised procedure; asking students to explain their answer can reveal whether they understand the concept.Diagnostic assessment helps locate learning gaps. For example, a low mathematics score alone cannot show whether the problem concerns number understanding, language, method or a prerequisite concept. Brief questions, classroom tasks and discussions can provide useful evidence that will reveal the gap in understanding. Quality of assessment depends on the thinking it requires. Contrary to the popular belief a lengthy case study may test recall; a short question may reveal a misconception.Evidence must also lead to a decision about the support for students. If several students share a misconception, teaching may need revision. If the difficulty is individual, support can be targeted.3. Organise support that addresses the difficultyIdentification must lead to a planned response for learner support. Just extra practice cannot reliably resolve learning gaps that were developed in earlier grades. Some learners need a concept to be retaught, others require focused practice, and some need individual attention. School Principals must establish what support will be provided, by whom and when.Teachers require relevant professional development, resources and time for peer-collaboration. Examining student work together can help them compare explanations and refine their approaches.Professional trust between school leadership and teachers matters equally. Can a teacher acknowledge that several children in the class have not understood a concept and expect guidance rather than blame? A constructive response makes it easier for teachers to report difficulties early and seek help.4. Review progress and adjust the responseProviding support is an activity. Improved understanding is the intended outcome. Academic reviews should revisit earlier decisions and examine their effects. This continuity makes follow-up an institutional practice and recognises progress that may otherwise escape attention. After the support is given, it is important to return to the original learning goal and review the students’ performance.Schooling is the process. Learning is the purpose. Every learner’s progress is the school’s responsibility.Disclaimer: Views expressed above are the author's own.