Srinagar, July 14 -- Kashmiris still celebrate the passing of board exams like it's a national victory.

Sweet packets are shared. Banners with oversized portraits of toppers line market streets. Neighbours flood timelines with congratulatory posts. A tenth-grade student who memorized enough to pass an exam is treated as a community hero.

Yet beyond the noise lies a deeper problem that no one wants to admit: our education system is rewarding survival, not excellence. It claps for obedience, not invention.

As a teacher of information technology in a government school in south Kashmir, I see the cracks every day.

Students are praised for reciting programming definitions word for word, though many of them have rarely touched a keyboard. T...