Deepak Bagla on Monday said today's students are growing up in an age of uncertainty, information overload and anxiety, making it increasingly difficult for educators to guide them through rapidly changing realities.
Bagla, who currently leads the Atal Innovation Mission under NITI Aayog, has played a key role in promoting innovation and entrepreneurship through school-level Atal Tinkering Labs across India.
Speaking at the NDTV LearnNXT Conclave 2026 during the fireside chat "Viksit Bharat 2047: Is the Future of Indian Education Entrepreneurship?", he said classrooms are evolving under the National Education Policy (NEP), but the education system must move beyond traditional exam-driven learning.
"This generation is filled with anxiety," he said.
"It is difficult to know how to guide them because the flow of information and knowledge is completely different now," he added.
Bagla said India's future education system should focus on preparing students to navigate uncertainty and adapt to changing technologies and industries.
"We are entering a phase of life where everything is possible, but nothing is certain," he said.
According to him, one of the biggest strengths of the Indian education system is the ability of students to work without a fixed playbook and adapt to unfamiliar situations.
"The Indian education policy is focusing on creating lives with context," he said.
Bagla also highlighted the rise of India's startup ecosystem after the launch of Startup India in 2016.
"Today India is number three in the world in terms of unicorns, number two in startups and number one in adding new startups every day," he said.
Speaking about innovation in schools, Bagla said Atal Tinkering Labs have helped nurture entrepreneurship among students.
"We have over 1.1 crore young entrepreneurs who have moved through Atal Tinkering Labs," he said.
Calling artificial intelligence a major disruptor, Bagla said AI has brought about the "complete democratisation of knowledge" and added that entrepreneurship is now "taking centre stage" in education conversations across the country.
