Overview

Who is writing this

We are a few parents. Our children will sit these exams.

On 26 July 2026 the Prime Minister's Office announced a task force on examination reforms. We wanted somewhere to put down what we have seen and read, in a form someone else could use — with the sources attached, and the objections attached too.

No organisation, no funding, no staff. Where these pages say "we", read it as us plus whoever turns up.

What we can do, in the time we have: read carefully, write clearly, keep a record that does not quietly change, and take other people's experience seriously. What we cannot do: run a national consultation, speak for anyone, or claim that what appears here is representative of India.

Everything here is best effort. A few parents, one attempt. We hope it is one of many.

What prompted it

The announcement names examination reforms and Nandan Nilekani as chair. It does not describe a wider education mandate or list the full membership. Reporting describes a six-member group. Until the constituting notification and terms of reference are public, this project will not state a broader mandate or a definitive roster.

A secure exam still measures the wrong thing if the syllabus is dated, teachers are overloaded, coaching money buys an advantage, or the test rewards recall a phone can supply. So these notes start at exams and follow the causes upstream, without pretending the task force asked for that.

What we are going to do

One thing first, small enough to finish between us:

A short brief on examination reform, drafted from what people send, with sources and the strongest objections included. Published here and sent to the task force.

It goes out whether or not anyone replies, and whether or not anyone else contributes. If nobody sends anything, it is a few parents' read of the public evidence, and it will say so.

Everything else is in the research agenda as open questions — a map of what would need doing, not a schedule. Those parts happen only if people show up for them.

What education should do

Give people strong basics, broad exposure, useful skills, and real choices.

Interest usually arrives after exposure, practice, visible progress, and a teacher who took an interest. Students need foundations, chances to try things they haven't, and more than one respected path out of school.

Faraday began as a bookbinder's apprentice with little schooling and taught himself from the books within reach. Van Gogh started training at twenty-seven and spent ten years on perspective, anatomy, colour, and line. A system that ranks children early tends to throw that away.

More: Mahanu's philosophy.

How to take part

The form — a few boxes, no account, anonymous is fine.
GitHub Discussions — if you already use GitHub.
Email — if you'd rather write to a person.

Most useful is what you actually saw: your school, your child's exam, your district, your subject. Not an opinion about India.

Then: how ideas get checked · charter.

Status

There is no submission channel to the task force yet. If none opens, the brief is published here and sent by post and email, and the reply — or the silence — is recorded.

The site is rebuilt periodically from these files. Nothing updates itself.

What this is not

Not official, and not connected to the task force or any government body.
Not a survey. Nothing here is representative of India, and no count of submissions will be presented as if it were.
Not partisan, and not interested in political personalities.
Not a place for personal data, exam credentials, leaked papers, or unverified allegations about identifiable people.
Not a volume exercise. AI can draft and check; a named person is answerable for anything published.