On Education: Gaming the system

I don't read newspapers anymore. Scrolling through my Twitter feed, I saw an advert from a famous 'Edtech' company showcasing the improvement in their student's (read customers) performance. I am not going to discuss the perils of the commercialization of education. You can find better articles on that subject. 

However, I would like to focus on the quantification of education. There need to be some measurables to gauge the results of teaching. But what is the impact of the overarching focus on specific artefacts like grades and placements?

Many in my family consider me to be an intelligent kid. But this hasn't always been the case. Sometime in the 8th standard, I cracked the code. Everyone does this. For the seemingly uninteresting courses( apparently many), we try to shortlist the 'question-able' sections of the text. And in case we get it right- BINGO! You're tez. 

While preparing for JEE, I would always find the objective questions difficult compared to the subjective ones in the 90s. I'm not sure, but I think there would be significant differences between the batches that came through the two methods. 

I could go on about this. But the point is true innovation requires us to stop gaming the system. We can profit from a company built upon charisma, but nothing matters unless it delivers valuable goods.