Beyond Academic Pressure: What Should Pune Schools Really Be Teaching Children?
DIGITAL DESK | For generations, one of the easiest ways to describe a successful school was through its academic results.
Board percentages. Competitive examination performance. Toppers. Ranks. University admissions.
These measures still matter. Academic foundations remain an essential part of education.
But parents today are increasingly asking a more difficult question: Is a school preparing my child only for examinations, or also for life beyond them?
The question has become particularly relevant as children grow up in a world shaped by artificial intelligence, rapid technological change, social media, economic uncertainty and increasingly complex career choices.
The National Education Policy 2020 explicitly calls for education to move away from rote learning towards understanding, critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, experiential learning and holistic development.
In February 2026, the Central Board of Secondary Education went further by asking affiliated schools to integrate mental health literacy, emotional regulation and life skills into student programmes, sensitise parents about undue academic pressure, prioritise sports, arts and personality development, and cultivate a broader sense of identity beyond test scores and ranks.
The direction is becoming clear.
The question is no longer whether schools should teach beyond academics.
The question is how well they do it.
Key Takeaways
● Academic achievement remains important, but it is only one part of a child's development.
● Critical thinking, communication, collaboration, resilience and emotional intelligence increasingly matter alongside subject knowledge.
● Experiential learning allows children to apply knowledge rather than simply remember it.
● Financial literacy and practical decision-making are becoming important parts of future readiness.
● AI literacy requires not only technical familiarity but also judgement, ethics and critical evaluation.
● Sports, arts and performance can develop discipline, confidence and teamwork.
● The strongest schools do not simply offer more activities. They create systems in which children repeatedly practise important capabilities.
● Parents should therefore evaluate not just a school's results, but the experiences through which those results are achieved.
Pune Schools at a Glance: Beyond-Academic Learning
| School | Beyond-Academic Focus | Illustrative Approach |
| Mahindra International School | Experiential Learning & Global Inquiry | IB framework, inquiry and guided reflection |
| Delhi Public School Pune East | Life Skills & Experiential Projects | Hands-on field visits and expert interactions |
| Akshara International School | Resilience & Self-Reliance | Sports discipline, Scouts & Guides |
| St. Mathews Academy | Public Speaking & Performance | Speech, drama and performance-based learning |
| Kothari International School | Social-Emotional Learning & Leadership | Student-managed events and mindfulness |
| Confidence, Practical Intelligence & Entrepreneurship | C2B, Multiple Intelligence Fest, Young Entrepreneurs and financial literacy |
These approaches are different, but they point towards a common shift: education is gradually becoming less about what children can reproduce on an answer sheet and more about what they can understand, apply, communicate, and handle.
In This Article
● Why holistic education matters
● Learning through real-world experience
● Resilience and learning from failure
● Communication and public speaking
● Leadership and responsibility
● Emotional intelligence and wellbeing
● Why Lexicon's model is more than a collection of activities
● Financial and practical intelligence
● Creativity and open-ended thinking
● AI and digital literacy
● The real report card
● Questions parents should ask
Why Holistic Education Matters
Holistic education does not mean reducing academic standards.
That distinction is important.
There is sometimes a false choice between academic excellence and broader development, as though schools must choose one or the other.
They do not.
A child can be academically strong and also creative. A good communicator can also be a good mathematician. A successful student can be physically active, emotionally aware and entrepreneurial.
The purpose of holistic education is to make these capabilities reinforce one another.
NEP 2020 describes education as a process that should develop well-rounded individuals and emphasises critical thinking, creativity, communication, collaboration, problem-solving and experiential learning.
The strongest schools therefore ask a different question:
How can academic learning become the foundation for broader capability?
Learning Through Real-World Experience
A child may learn about ecosystems from a textbook.
But observing an ecosystem, collecting information, asking questions and presenting findings creates a different kind of understanding.
This is the principle behind experiential learning.
Delhi Public School Pune East, for example, describes field visits and excursions as ways of connecting classroom learning with real-world experiences. Its programme includes hands-on activities, projects, field trips, collaborative learning and technology integration.
Mahindra International School similarly represents a different model through its IB-based inquiry environment, where questioning and exploration are central to learning.
The larger lesson is that children need opportunities to use knowledge.
A science concept becomes more meaningful when a child investigates a real problem.
A mathematics lesson becomes more useful when numbers have to be applied to a real decision.
Communication becomes more powerful when a child must explain an idea to an audience.
Learning becomes deeper when the answer is not always provided in advance.
NEP 2020 specifically identifies hands-on, inquiry-based, discovery-based and experiential learning as important directions for school education.
Resilience and Learning From Failure
Children cannot be protected from every setback.
Nor should they be.
A missed selection. A failed experiment. A poor presentation. Losing a sporting match. Getting an answer wrong.
These moments can become educational experiences.
The important question is what the child learns from them.
Resilience is not simply the ability to tolerate difficulty. It involves developing the confidence to examine what went wrong, make adjustments and try again.
Schools can build this through sports, projects, performances, competitions, research and activities where outcomes are not guaranteed.
Akshara International School, for example, provides an example of how sports discipline and activities such as Scouts and Guides can contribute to self-reliance and resilience.
The broader principle is simple:
Children need safe opportunities to experience failure before they encounter much bigger failures in adult life.
Communication and Public Speaking
A child may know the answer and still struggle to communicate it.
That becomes increasingly important as students move into higher education, employment and leadership roles.
Communication is not simply speaking fluent English.
It includes listening, questioning, presenting, explaining, debating, negotiating and understanding an audience.
Schools such as St. Mathews Academy place emphasis on speech, drama and performance, creating opportunities for children to develop confidence in front of others.
These experiences matter because communication improves through practice.
A child who presents regularly learns things that a written examination cannot easily measure:
How to organise an argument.
How to respond when someone disagrees.
How to manage nervousness.
How to read an audience.
How to speak with clarity.
These are life skills, not merely stage skills.
Leadership and Responsibility
Leadership should not begin with a prefect badge.
Children can begin developing leadership much earlier by taking responsibility for something real.
An event.
A project.
A team.
A presentation.
A student initiative.
A problem within the school community.
Kothari International School's emphasis on student-managed activities and leadership provides one example of this approach.
The important distinction is between being given a leadership title and being given genuine responsibility.
Real responsibility introduces consequences.
If a student is organising an event, somebody has to plan the schedule.
If a team project fails, somebody has to identify why.
If a student initiative requires collaboration, disagreements have to be resolved.
That is where leadership becomes educational.
Emotional Intelligence and Wellbeing
Academic pressure does not exist in isolation.
Children also navigate friendships, competition, social media, identity, expectations and uncertainty.
Emotional intelligence therefore cannot be reduced to a counselling session once a year.
It needs to become part of everyday school life.
The February 2026 CBSE circular on mental health and social-emotional learning asks schools to integrate mental health literacy, emotional regulation and life skills into orientation and curricular activities. It also asks schools to sensitise parents about undue academic pressure and prioritise sports, arts and personality development.
This represents an important shift.
The objective is not simply to respond when a child is struggling.
It is to help children develop the vocabulary and skills to understand themselves, regulate emotions, communicate concerns and seek support.
Why Lexicon's Model Is More Than a Collection of Activities
This is where an important distinction emerges.
Many schools have activities.
Almost every school has sports days, annual celebrations, competitions, field trips, clubs or special events.
The more interesting question is:
Do these activities form a coherent educational system?
The Lexicon Schools provide an example of an approach where different experiences are designed to develop different dimensions of a child's capability.
Its C2B, or Caterpillar to Butterfly, initiatives are associated with confidence-building and personal development. Multiple Intelligence activities create opportunities for children to discover and demonstrate different strengths. Young Entrepreneur initiatives introduce students to business thinking and practical financial concepts. Science and research-oriented activities encourage inquiry, while sports programmes develop fitness, teamwork and discipline.
The significance is not simply the number of programmes.
It is the system connecting them.
A child may encounter confidence-building through C2B, discover different abilities through Multiple Intelligence activities, develop commercial thinking through Young Entrepreneur initiatives and apply curiosity through research and science projects.
The same child may also develop discipline through sport and communication through presentations.
The value lies in repetition and connection.
Instead of treating confidence, creativity, financial awareness, leadership and problem-solving as isolated extracurricular outcomes, the school can give children multiple environments in which to practise these capabilities.
That is a fundamentally different proposition from simply having a long activity calendar.
Lexicon's own school material highlights programmes and initiatives including Caterpillar to Butterfly, Multiple Intelligence Fest, Young Entrepreneur, Research and Development, Science Fest and Sports activities. Its published annual material also describes Young Entrepreneur activities in relation to business acumen and practical financial literacy, while highlighting MI Fest, C2B and research activities as part of wider student development.
In other words, the stronger way to understand such a model is not:
“The school has many activities.”
It is:
“The school uses activities as repeated practice environments for capabilities children will need beyond school.”
That distinction matters.
Because the ultimate objective of holistic education is not to produce children with impressive activity portfolios.
It is to produce children who become more capable because of those experiences.
Financial and Practical Intelligence
Children are growing up in a world of digital payments, online shopping, investment platforms, easy credit and rapidly changing career models.
Yet many young adults leave school knowing how to solve equations without knowing how to construct a basic personal budget.
Financial literacy is therefore becoming part of practical intelligence.
Children can gradually learn:
● The difference between needs and wants
● Saving and spending
● Budgeting
● Digital payments
● Risk and reward
● Delayed gratification
● Basic entrepreneurship
● Value creation
● Responsible decision-making
The objective is not to turn children into investors.
It is to help them understand consequences.
A child who learns to compare prices, plan a budget or understand how a small business works is practising decision-making in a context that feels real.
This is also where entrepreneurship education becomes valuable.
Entrepreneurship is not only about starting companies.
It teaches children to identify problems, generate ideas, understand customers, work with others, manage limited resources and learn from failure.
Creativity and Open-Ended Thinking
Many examination questions have a correct answer.
Real life often does not.
A business problem may have several solutions.
A social problem may have competing priorities.
A design challenge may have dozens of possibilities.
Creativity therefore needs to move beyond drawing competitions and craft activities.
Children should encounter open-ended questions where they have to develop, test and defend their own solutions.
That is one reason project-based and inquiry-based learning can be powerful.
The National Education Policy explicitly calls for more creative, collaborative, exploratory and experiential learning, alongside critical thinking and problem-solving.
The ability to say, “There may be another way of solving this,” is itself an important educational outcome.
AI and Digital Literacy
For today's children, digital literacy is no longer optional.
But knowing how to operate an AI tool is not the same as being AI literate.
Children increasingly need to understand:
● How digital tools work
● How to evaluate information
● How algorithms influence what they see
● Why privacy matters
● How to identify unreliable information
● When technology should and should not be used
● How AI can assist thinking without replacing judgement
● Why ethics matter when technology becomes powerful
The future-ready student will not necessarily be the child who knows the most software.
It may be the child who knows when to trust technology, when to question it and when to think independently.
Physical Wellbeing, Sports and the Arts
Physical development is sometimes treated as secondary to academic achievement.
That is a mistake.
Sports can teach discipline, teamwork, persistence, strategic thinking and how to handle both victory and defeat.
Arts can develop observation, imagination, expression and confidence.
Performance can teach presence.
Music can teach practice.
Dance can teach coordination.
The February 2026 CBSE guidance specifically asks schools to prioritise extracurricular activities including sports, arts and personality development, reinforcing the idea that these experiences contribute to student wellbeing and broader identity.
Education becomes richer when the timetable makes space for the whole child.
Career Readiness Begins Before Career Selection
Career counselling should not begin only when a student reaches Class 12.
Career readiness starts much earlier.
A child needs opportunities to discover:
What am I good at?
What do I enjoy?
What problems do I like solving?
Do I prefer working with people, ideas, numbers, machines or creative expression?
Can I explain my thinking?
Can I work in a team?
Can I take responsibility?
These questions help children develop self-awareness before they have to make major academic choices.
CBSE's 2026 guidance also calls for structured career counselling that encourages informed and interest-based career decisions rather than narrow definitions of merit or success.
Activity Is Not the Same as Educational Experience
There is an important distinction parents should understand.
A school can have hundreds of activities and still provide limited holistic education.
The question is what happens before, during and after the activity.
Consider a school competition.
A superficial approach might be:
Participate → perform → receive certificate → move on.
A deeper educational approach might be:
Identify a problem → research → collaborate → create → present → receive feedback → reflect → improve.
The second approach develops considerably more.
It builds critical thinking, communication, collaboration, resilience and reflection.
This is why parents should look beyond the school calendar.
Ask what children actually do.
Ask what they are responsible for.
Ask whether they are allowed to make decisions.
Ask what happens when something goes wrong.
Ask whether students reflect on their experience.
That is where the quality of the educational system becomes visible.
The Real Report Card: 10 Skills Children Need Beyond Marks
A useful way for parents to think about holistic education is to imagine a second report card.
Not one that replaces academic results.
One that sits alongside them.
1. Critical Thinking
Can the child evaluate a problem rather than simply recall an answer?
2. Communication
Can the child present an idea clearly, listen carefully and participate in discussion?
3. Collaboration
Can the child work with others while accepting shared responsibility for an outcome?
4. Emotional Intelligence
Can the child recognise emotions, regulate responses and understand other people's perspectives?
5. Resilience
Can the child recover from disappointment, understand what went wrong and try again?
6. Creativity
Can the child generate multiple approaches rather than searching immediately for one prescribed answer?
7. Leadership
Can the child take responsibility, organise others and make decisions when outcomes matter?
8. Financial and Practical Intelligence
Can the child understand basic budgeting, value, risk and everyday decision-making?
9. Digital and AI Literacy
Can the child use technology intelligently while questioning information, protecting privacy and exercising ethical judgement?
10. Physical Wellbeing
Can the child develop discipline, fitness, teamwork and a healthy relationship with physical activity?
These skills may not always appear on a traditional report card.
But they will appear repeatedly in adult life.
Questions Parents Should Ask When Choosing a School
Instead of asking only, “What percentage did your students score?” parents can ask:
How does the school teach children to handle failure?
How often do students present their own ideas?
Do students work on projects with genuine responsibility?
How is emotional intelligence taught during ordinary school life?
How are sports and physical activity integrated into the school experience?
Do children learn practical financial concepts?
How does the school approach AI and digital citizenship?
What opportunities do students have to lead?
Are activities connected to learning, or are they mostly events?
How does the school identify and develop different strengths in different children?
These questions can reveal considerably more about a school's philosophy than a brochure full of facilities.
A Parent's Quick Test
When visiting a school, imagine your child has spent ten years there.
Then ask yourself:
Will my child know the syllabus?
Probably.
But will my child also know how to speak confidently?
How to work with people?
How to manage money?
How to handle failure?
How to make decisions?
How to use technology responsibly?
How to solve an unfamiliar problem?
How to recognise their own strengths?
How to remain physically active?
How to deal with uncertainty?
If the answer to most of these questions is yes, the school is probably thinking beyond examinations.
Academic Excellence Still Matters
None of this means marks do not matter.
They do.
Strong foundational knowledge gives children the platform from which they can think, create and progress.
The mistake is treating academic performance as the entire definition of capability.
A child who scores 95% but cannot communicate an idea, manage disappointment, work with others or make a basic decision independently is not fully prepared for adult life.
Equally, a child with strong communication and confidence but weak academic foundations may also face limitations.
The goal is not to choose between the two.
It is to build both.
Academic excellence and life capability should not be competing destinations.
They should be parts of the same educational journey.
The School of the Future May Still Look Surprisingly Like a School
Technology will change classrooms.
Artificial intelligence will change how students research and create.
Career paths will continue to evolve.
But some educational fundamentals will remain surprisingly constant.
Children will still need teachers who know when to challenge them and when to encourage them.
They will still need friends to collaborate with.
They will still need opportunities to fail safely.
They will still need sport, creativity, conversation and responsibility.
And they will still need adults who see them as more than a percentage.
Perhaps the biggest change is not that schools must teach more subjects.
It is that schools must become better at connecting what children learn to who they are becoming.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is holistic education in Pune schools?
Holistic education develops academic knowledge alongside capabilities such as critical thinking, communication, creativity, emotional intelligence, physical wellbeing, leadership and practical decision-making.
Why is education beyond marks becoming important?
Children will face increasingly complex personal, technological and professional environments. Marks measure important academic outcomes, but they do not fully measure resilience, communication, creativity, judgement or collaboration.
What does NEP 2020 say about holistic education?
NEP 2020 calls for a shift away from rote learning towards understanding, critical thinking, creativity, experiential learning, problem-solving and the development of well-rounded individuals.
What has CBSE said about academic pressure and student wellbeing?
In its February 2026 circular, CBSE asked schools to sensitise parents about undue academic pressure, integrate mental health literacy, emotional regulation and life skills, prioritise sports, arts and personality development, and cultivate a broader student identity beyond test scores and ranks.
Why are financial literacy and entrepreneurship useful for children?
They help children understand budgeting, value, risk, decision-making and resource management. Entrepreneurship can additionally develop problem-solving, creativity, teamwork and the ability to turn ideas into practical solutions.
How can parents tell whether a school genuinely teaches life skills?
Parents should look beyond the number of activities offered. They should ask whether students have genuine responsibility, whether they make decisions, whether they reflect on experiences, how failure is handled and whether practical skills are integrated into everyday learning.
Is holistic education a replacement for academic excellence?
No. The strongest model combines academic rigour with broader capabilities. The objective is not less learning, but a wider definition of what meaningful learning should achieve.
The Real Question Parents Should Ask
The education debate has often been framed as marks versus everything else.
That is the wrong debate.
The better question is whether schools can help children become academically capable and emotionally resilient, intellectually curious, physically active, socially confident and practically intelligent.
The child who leaves school with strong marks has achieved something important.
The child who leaves with strong marks and knows how to think, communicate, collaborate, lead, recover from failure, manage decisions and keep learning is better prepared for what comes next.
That may ultimately be the real measure of a future-ready school.
Not only what marks a child leaves with.
But what capabilities, confidence, character and curiosity the child carries into the world.