CBSE’s Competency Revolution: A Turning Point—or a New Layer of Inequality?

 The Central Board of Secondary Education’s decision to redesign board examinations by making 50% of questions competency-based from 2026 marks one of the most consequential shifts in Indian schooling in decades.

On paper, it signals a long-overdue departure from rote memorisation toward analysis, application, and reasoning, aligning with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. In spirit, it promises liberation—from predictable question patterns, guidebooks, and memory-driven success.

In practice, however, the reform also tests a harder truth: India’s schooling system is deeply unequal.
If implemented thoughtfully, this change could redefine learning. If mishandled, it risks widening the rural–urban divide and intensifying academic inequality.

Reactions across the country reflect this tension—ranging from celebration to quiet panic.

Why This Reform Matters

For decades, Indian education functioned like a memory competition. Students were trained to:

• Memorise textbook lines
• Predict “important questions”
• Optimise marks, not understanding

Schools proudly announced high pass percentages even as classrooms discouraged questioning.

Competency-based questions—case studies, situational problems, analytical prompts—aim to disrupt this culture. They demand that students:

• Interpret information
• Apply concepts to unfamiliar contexts
• Compare, evaluate, and reason

For students who understand concepts but struggle with flawless memorisation, this shift is potentially transformative. The quiet thinker at the back of the class—long overshadowed by professional crammers—may finally find space to succeed.

At the same time, old certainties crumble. Revision notes alone will no longer guarantee marks. Predictable patterns disappear. And the famous parental assurance—“Aunty’s son said this will definitely come”—loses its power.

The Rural–Urban Divide: Where the Reform Meets Reality

Here lies the reform’s greatest risk.

Urban Advantage

Students in urban private schools often already experience:

• Trained teachers
• Digital tools and labs
• Discussion-based classrooms
• Exposure to Olympiads and problem-solving

For them, competency-based assessment is an evolution, not a shock.

Rural Reality

In contrast, many rural and government schools operate under severe constraints:

• Overcrowded classrooms
• Limited resources
• Teacher shortages
• Minimal training in analytical pedagogy

Many students are first-generation learners without academic support at home. Asking them to solve application-based problems without prior exposure risks turning reform into exclusion.

Teachers, too, face challenges—not of intent, but of preparation. Teaching application requires time, materials, and conceptual freedom. Where schools lack libraries, labs, or even stable electricity, policy ambition can hover far above classroom reality.

Coaching Centres and the New Pressure Economy

Competency-based exams also disrupt the traditional coaching ecosystem built around solved

papers and pattern prediction.

While coaching centres will adapt—rebranding themselves as hubs for “analytical training”—the risk is familiar:
increased dependence on paid support, especially among families anxious to keep up.

Without parallel investment in government schools, reform may unintentionally push disadvantaged students further into inequality rather than freeing them from it.

Teachers: The Backbone—and the Battlefield

 

No educational reform succeeds without teachers.

Competency-based learning requires educators who can:

• Design meaningful activities
• Encourage questioning
• Evaluate open-ended responses fairly

Yet professional development remains uneven across regions. Without structured training and clear assessment rubrics, teachers may struggle—leading to inconsistency, subjectivity, and confusion.

Redesigning exams without equipping teachers is like installing a new engine without teaching the driver how to steer.

A Reform Full of Promise—But Demanding Courage

CBSE deserves credit for ambition. India cannot afford an education system that rewards memory over understanding. The global economy does not hire memorisers; artificial intelligence already outperforms them.

If implemented responsibly, this reform could:

• Reduce exam fear
• Encourage real understanding
• Promote creativity and problem-solving
• Bridge the education–employment gap

But execution is everything.

Reform must travel beyond circulars and presentations. It must reach classrooms, teachers, and students through sustained investment—not expectation.

Without that, the system risks producing a familiar outcome:
urban students writing analytical essays while rural students face questions they were never trained to answer.

Obituary to Rote Learning

A satirical tribute to a dearly departed era

To capture the cultural shift this reform represents, here is a brief obituary to the system it seeks to replace.

Rote Learning—also known as Rattafication, Cramming, and Memory Without Meaning—passed away quietly after decades of dominance, following the announcement that 50% of CBSE board exams will now be competency-based.

It is survived by:

• Guidebooks with 10-year solved papers
• Dictated notes without explanation
• Question predictions based on planetary alignment
• The timeless advice: “Just memorise—understanding is optional.”

Rote Learning produced generations who could define democracy perfectly yet struggled to recognise it in practice. It helped students score 99% in physics while remaining unsure how a light bulb works.

Its influence waned when teachers began asking a terrifying question:
“But what do you understand?”

Reports suggest it died instantly.

Beyond Satire: What Policymakers Must Do Next

Replacing rote learning is not symbolic—it is structural.

1. Strengthen Teacher Training

• Mandatory annual training in conceptual teaching and assessment
• Clear rubrics for evaluating analytical answers
• Incentives for skilled teachers to serve in rural schools

2. Bridge the Resource Divide

• Libraries, labs, digital tools in government schools
• Regional resource hubs
• Learning material in local languages and contexts

3. Redesign Curriculum, Not Just Exams

• Reduce syllabus overload
• Introduce case studies and interdisciplinary learning
• Provide sample competency-based answer frameworks

4. Reform Assessment Holistically

• Emphasise formative and project-based evaluation
• Reduce one-day, high-pressure dependency
• Track progress over time

5. Protect First-Generation Learners

• Bridge courses and mentoring
• Community learning support
• NGO and volunteer partnerships

6. Regulate the Coaching Industry

• Prevent exploitative marketing
• Encourage collaboration with schools
• Promote affordable and open learning resources

Final Reflection

The decision to make 50% of board exam questions competency-based is bold, necessary, and overdue.

But revolutions require more than announcements. They demand infrastructure, training, and empathy.

If done well, this reform could nurture a generation of thoughtful, confident, inventive Indians.
If not, it risks producing a new abundance of something else entirely:

competency-based confusion.

As NCERT textbooks wait quietly, one can almost hear them whisper:

“Maybe now they’ll actually read us.”

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About the Author

Manish Kumar is an independent education and career writer who focuses on simplifying complex academic, policy, and career-related topics for Indian students.

Through Explain It Clearly, he explores career decision-making, education reform, entrance exams, and emerging opportunities beyond conventional paths—helping students and parents make informed, pressure-free decisions grounded in long-term thinking.