AI is one of the most significant technological shifts students will encounter in their lifetime, and schools have a responsibility to help them understand it thoughtfully. Our approach begins with the belief that technology should support learning, not replace it. We want students to understand how AI works, where it can be useful, what its limitations are and how to engage with it responsibly and ethically, shared Dr Tristha Ramamurthy, Founder Ekya Schools, Provost CMR University in an exclusive interaction with Kaanchi Chawla of Elets News Network (ENN). Edited excerpts:
Ekya Schools was built on the idea that children learn best when they are curious, not compliant. After all these years, how hard has it actually been to protect that philosophy from the pressure of board results and parent expectations?
In India, board examination results continue to be an important milestone for families. Parents naturally want reassurance that their children will be academically successful and well prepared for the future.
What has helped us stay committed to our philosophy is the belief that curiosity and academic excellence are not opposing goals. In fact, our experience has shown that when students deeply understand concepts, ask meaningful questions and engage actively with their learning, academic achievement follows more naturally and sustainably than through rote memorisation alone.
Over the years, we have consciously built a culture where inquiry is not an occasional classroom activity but a way of learning. Students are encouraged to investigate real-world challenges, collaborate across disciplines and apply their learning in meaningful contexts. We saw this come alive in a student-led Design Thinking Challenge, where learners applied their classroom learning to real-world sustainability challenges, exploring solutions such as smart waste segregation, circular fashion models and the repurposing of temple flower waste. The objective was not simply to complete a project, but to understand a problem, empathise with stakeholders and design thoughtful solutions.
When students begin to see themselves as problem solvers rather than passive recipients of information, learning becomes far more meaningful. The pressure to focus solely on marks will always exist, but we have remained convinced that education should develop both competence and character.
Report cards and ranks still dominate how Indian parents measure a school’s worth. How do you convince a parent that their child is thriving when there is no rank to show them?
The first thing we acknowledge is that parents are looking for evidence. They want to know that their child is growing and progressing, and that is a completely reasonable expectation.
At Ekya, we try to broaden the conversation beyond a single number or rank. Alongside academic progress, we look at whether a child is becoming a more confident communicator, whether they can collaborate effectively, whether they are asking deeper questions and whether they can apply their learning to unfamiliar situations.
One of the strengths of inquiry-based learning is that it makes learning visible. Through projects, presentations, reflections and exhibitions of learning, students demonstrate not just what they know, but how they think. Parents often tell us that these moments reveal dimensions of their children that traditional report cards cannot capture confidence, creativity, resilience and leadership.
Ekya’s ACE framework, centred on developing learners who are aware, compassionate and engaged, which reflects the school’s belief that education extends beyond academic outcomes. While academic progress continues to be an important indicator, attention is also given to how students are growing in their ability to think independently, collaborate with others and engage meaningfully with the world around them. Increasingly, these are qualities that many parents value alongside traditional measures of achievement.
Ekya is built on a progressive, inquiry-based approach to learning which is not always easy to sell in a country still wired to ranks and rote learning. Where do you draw the line between global best practices and staying grounded in what Indian children and families actually need?
For us, innovation in education has never been about importing global ideas and applying them without context. The question we constantly ask is: what will genuinely help our students thrive in the world they are growing up in?
We work on inquiry-based learning, design thinking and student-centred teaching as these approaches are grounded in how children learn best. At the same time, every idea must be adapted to the realities of Indian classrooms, Indian families and Indian aspirations.
Parents in India care deeply about academic rigour, and rightly so. Our goal is to combine strong academic foundations with opportunities for students to think critically, solve problems and make meaningful connections across disciplines.
That balance is reflected in our classrooms every day. Students still develop strong literacy, numeracy and subject knowledge, but they do so through exploration, discussion, reflection and application rather than memorisation alone. We are not trying to choose between academic achievement and deeper learning; we believe students deserve both.
Every school is suddenly talking about AI. What is Ekya’s ground-level approach to it, and what are you cautious about?
AI is one of the most significant technological shifts students will encounter in their lifetime, and schools have a responsibility to help them understand it thoughtfully.
Our approach begins with the belief that technology should support learning, not replace it. We want students to understand how AI works, where it can be useful, what its limitations are and how to engage with it responsibly and ethically.
At the same time, AI reinforces the importance of the very skills that have always been central to Ekya’s philosophy. Curiosity, creativity, critical thinking, empathy and judgment become even more valuable in a world where information is increasingly generated and accessible instantly.
While AI offers exciting possibilities for learning, it is important that technology complements rather than replaces the learning process. Education is not only about arriving at answers; it is about developing the ability to question, analyse, evaluate and create. As AI becomes more accessible, schools have an important role to play in helping students use these tools thoughtfully, while continuing to strengthen the critical thinking, creativity and judgment that remain uniquely human.
Also Read: Building Innovation Ecosystems on Campus: The University’s Role in India’s Startup Journey
If you had to measure Ekya’s success not by rankings but by the kind of adults your students have become, what would that picture look like today?
At Ekya, success is viewed through a broader lens than academic achievement alone. The school’s ACE framework centred on developing learners who are aware, compassionate and engaged reflects a commitment to nurturing young people who are thoughtful, adaptable and equipped to navigate a changing world.
An important indicator of that success is whether students leave school with the confidence to learn independently, engage respectfully with different perspectives and approach challenges with curiosity. While academic outcomes remain important, equal value is placed on developing qualities such as empathy, resilience and a sense of responsibility towards others.
The long-term impact of education is reflected not only in what students know, but in how they apply that knowledge, how they relate to the world around them and how they continue to grow as learners beyond school.
