Education 2047 : WHAT SHOULD STUDENTS ACTUALLY LEARN WHEN AI KNOWS EVERYTHING?

Education 2047 #Blog 53 (11 NOV 2025)

I've been thinking deeply about this phrase- "from content to context"- and what it really means for a child in kindergarten versus a PhD student. Let me share how I see this transformation unfolding across different stages of education.

Higher Education: Stop Pretending, Start Proving

I see this problem every day at my university. We're still asking adult learners- people in their twenties- to memorize things and regurgitate them in exams. It's absurd when you think about it. These are adults who could be solving real problems, creating actual value, making genuine contributions. Instead, we have them studying about things.

What breaks my heart is the wasted potential. I've seen brilliant students get an A in Machine Learning but can't deploy a model that actually works. I've watched MBA students ace Strategic Management exams but freeze when faced with a real business problem.

The shift I'm advocating for is simple but radical: stop studying problems, start solving them.

Look at that transcript comparison I created. Instead of a grade in "Financial Analysis," imagine a student who shows: "Built a DCF model for a $50M acquisition- the deal actually closed." That's not theoretical knowledge. That's proven capability.

This is what I mean by heutagogy- self-determined learning. Let students choose challenges that excite them, that keep them up at night, that they genuinely want to solve. Then support them with:

Access to real-world problems through industry partnerships
Mentors who guide rather than lecture
AI tools that help them learn what they need, when they need it
Blockchain-verified portfolios that prove what they've accomplished

The teacher's job? It transforms completely. We're no longer content deliverers. We become wisdom sharers, ethics guides, meaning makers. Because here's what AI can't do: it can't help you decide if something is worth doing, can't teach you why it matters, can't help you become a better human being.

I sometimes joke with colleagues: "In five years, will employers care that someone got an A- in Database Systems, or will they want to know if that person actually built a database that serves 10,000 users?" We all know the answer.

Secondary Education: Let Teenagers Be Explorers

I have a confession. When I look at what we do to 15-18 year olds, it makes me angry.

These are young people bursting with curiosity, energy, and creativity. Their brains are wired for exploration, for asking "what if," for pushing boundaries. And what do we do? We lock them in classrooms, force them to memorize disconnected facts, and terrify them with board exams that test nothing meaningful.

My own children went through this system. I watched them lose their natural love of learning, watched the light dim in their eyes as education became about marks, not meaning.

Here's what I've learned about adolescents: they don't learn like children (through repetition) and they shouldn't be taught like adults (through abstract theory). They learn by doing, by exploring, by messing up and trying again.

So imagine this instead: a school where students tackle real problems that matter to their community. "Our neighbourhood has a water shortage- can we design a rainwater harvesting system?" Suddenly, they need physics (for water pressure), chemistry (for filtration), math (for capacity calculations), even social studies (for community organizing).

This isn't about abandoning knowledge. It's about acquiring knowledge in context, when you actually need it, when it means something.

I visited a school recently where students were designing a solar power system for their building. A girl who had been failing in physics was suddenly calculating angles and efficiency with passion because it was her project. She was leading the team. That's the power of context.

The teacher in this model? A guide, not a gatekeeper of knowledge. Because when students are working on real projects, they need guidance on how to think, how to collaborate, how to persist when things don't work. That's infinitely more valuable than lecturing about Ohm's Law.

Primary Education: Make Learning Mean Something

Now, here's where I have to be careful. Because primary education is different, and I've seen well-meaning reformers mess this up.

Young children do need to learn foundational things through practice. The alphabet doesn't make sense until you've repeated it many times. Multiplication tables require drilling. Basic grammar needs repetition.

But here's the mistake we make: we strip all the meaning away.

I remember watching my grandson (in relation) learn multiplication. The teacher was making them write "7 x 8 = 56" fifty times. He was bored, frustrated, disconnected. Then his mother asked him: "If we're making ladoos for Diwali and each plate holds 8 ladoos, how many ladoos do we need for 7 plates?" His eyes lit up. Same math, but now it mattered.

What I'm saying is: content matters at this age, but it must be embedded in contexts that make sense to a child's life.

Instead of teaching reading through random textbooks, connect it to stories that reflect children's own cultures, families, experiences. Instead of abstract math problems, use cooking, building, games, nature observations.

I think often about the traditional Gurukul system we had in India- before the British destroyed it. Children didn't sit at desks memorizing from books. They learned by participating in real activities, by observing, by doing things that mattered to their community. A child learning carpentry didn't first study "the theory of wood"- they held the chisel, smelled the sawdust, felt the grain.

This is what I mean by contextual learning at the primary level: surround children with rich, meaningful experiences where learning is naturally embedded. Let them wonder, question, explore. Encourage "why" instead of shutting it down.

And yes, AI can help here- not to replace teachers, but to give each child personalized practice at their own pace while the teacher focuses on what truly matters: nurturing curiosity, building confidence, developing character.

Why This Matters Now More Than Ever

Let me be honest with you. I'm 55+ years old. I've been in education policy for decades. And I'm genuinely worried about what happens if we don't make these changes soon.

AI is making content essentially free. My students can ask ChatGPT or Claude any factual question and get an instant answer. They can generate code, write reports, solve equations. So why are we still organizing education around content delivery?

The competitive advantage for any country- for India especially- will be in developing humans who can:

Ask questions nobody has asked before
Make judgments in uncertain situations
Create solutions to problems we haven't even identified yet
Work with AI effectively while remaining deeply, authentically human

That last point is crucial. I tell my students: "AI can be smarter than you at analysis. But it can't care about things. It can't feel compassion. It can't struggle with ethical dilemmas at 2 AM. It can't be moved by beauty or troubled by injustice."

Education's purpose must shift from filling heads with information to nurturing humans who can navigate an uncertain world with wisdom, ethics, creativity, and humanity.

This is why I'm so passionate about this "content to context" transformation:

For young children: Context gives meaning- helping them understand why learning matters and connecting it to their lived experience.

For teenagers: Context enables exploration- helping them see connections between subjects and develop confidence through tackling real challenges.

For university students: Context demands demonstration- helping them prove what they can actually accomplish, not just what they've memorized.

When I give talks, people sometimes say: "Professor, this sounds beautiful but impractical." And I understand that reaction. Changing education systems is incredibly hard. There's inertia, there's fear, there are entrenched interests.

But here's what keeps me going: I've seen it work. I've watched students transform when they're given real challenges instead of textbook problems. I've seen "average" students accomplish extraordinary things when education stops being about grades and becomes about growth.

India has an opportunity right now- between now and 2047- to lead a global transformation in education. We can rediscover the wisdom of our gurukul traditions, enhance them with AI capabilities, and create an educational model the whole world wants to learn from.

Or we can keep doing what we're doing- expanding access to an obsolete system, producing millions of graduates with degrees that mean less and less, watching our young people struggle to find meaningful opportunities.

That's the choice. And it's not really about technology or policy frameworks. It's about whether we have the courage to admit that the emperor has no clothes - that our current education system is failing our children, failing our young people, failing our nation.

I believe we can do better. I have to believe it. Because I have grandchildren who will inherit whatever system we create- or fail to create.

The transformation from content to context isn't just an educational strategy. It's a moral imperative for a generation that deserves better than we're giving them right now.

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About the author

Dr. Neeraj Saxena is the Pro-Chancellor of JIS University, Kolkata, where he brings together long-standing experience in educational leadership and a strong grounding in technology foresight. His earlier work with national bodies like AICTE and TIFAC helped translate forward-looking ideas into practical reforms across India’s education landscape.

As a co-author of Technology Vision 2035: Education Roadmap, he remains actively engaged in shaping policy discourse and rethinking the future of learning. His perspectives on teacher education are rooted in firsthand experience and informed by a deep commitment to addressing the cognitive challenges facing schools today.

Through Education2047, Dr. Saxena continues to champion heutagogy and self-determined learning, emphasizing the need for systems that develop learners capable of adapting to any future—anticipated or entirely new.

What keeps me going? The belief that we can prepare young people not just for jobs we can predict, but for the courage and capability to shape whatever future emerges - known or unknown. That's not just education policy. For me, it's personal. I have grandchildren who will inherit whatever system we build.

This blog is my contribution to that fight. Thanks for being part of the conversation.

Previous (52) blogs

§ The Four Quadrants that Explain everything Wrong (or Right) about Higher Education

§ Teaching Teachers to Think: Redesigning Secondary Education for Higher Cognitive Learning

· § The Quiet Revolution: How Everyday Practices Can Transform Higher Education for the AI Age

· § Books and Learning 2047: From Sacred Texts to Fading Relevance

· § Rebuilding Trust in Education: AI-based Transcript Revolution

§ The Centenary Disappointment Awaits: Teachers' Choice Between Evolution and Extinction

§ Breaking Industrial Cages: Society6.0's Path to Educational Liberation by 2035

§ Decoding Human Potential: Why Grades Are Failing Our Future

§ Ancient Wisdom, Digital Age: What Dronachatya Knew About Teaching With AI

§ Will Universities Survive the Age of AI and BCI ?