Unschooling the Norms – South Asian Edition
Picture this: a 12-year-old in Karachi learning fractions not from a tuition teacher drilling formulas, but by keeping score during a heated Ludo game with cousins. Or a Lahore teen who picks up history not just from a textbook, but from stories her dadi tells about Partition and the city’s old bazaars.
For too long, education in South Asia has been synonymous with two things: schools and tuition. Grades, exams, and late-night cram sessions. But learning cannot be confined within the four walls of a classroom. It’s due time that we rethink what education really means.
Say Yes to Homeschooling
Homeschooling has been looked down on for too long. Instead, think of it as getting a suit tailored vs. buying it ready-made online. Homeschooling actually means tailoring education to your child.
Don’t listen to what society says. As a parent, design a curriculum around your child’s unique pace, needs, and interests. A study from UNESCO suggests that compared to the rest of the world post-pandemic, South Asia probably experienced the most rigidness when it came to switching towards no bell schedules, no one-size-fits-all lessons.
But in recently, South Asia, families are also beginning to explore it as an alternative to tuition-heavy systems that often burn kids out before they hit adulthood.
A math concept might click better while baking, while literature could be explored through storytelling circles at home. Finally, we are coming towards a realization that a fish and a bird cannot be taught through the same outdated teaching methods.
Move Beyond the Four Walls of Schools
Education is not limited to your years in any school. It’s a lifelong journey, and ultimately, the real goal isn’t just better grades, but a mindset: something that nurtures curiosity, resilience, and the confidence to learn anywhere.
Globally, employers now rank problem-solving, creativity, and adaptability above memorization and test-taking skills. Which means the skills your child learns tinkering with a broken fan motor or designing their first website may be just as valuable as the ones they pick up in physics class.
That might mean giving kids access to online resources like Khan Academy, stocking the house with books, or encouraging them to paint, code, or plant a garden. Instill curiosity in your child, don’t whip out the belts for an incorrect math equation.
Meet the Arshad’s who continue to document their journey on Youtube about homeschooling their kids! Everyone has the same question, how do they do it?
What in the World is Unschooling
Yes, it sounds strange. But unschooling is a concept coined by educator John Holt in the 1970s, here instead of following a set curriculum, children direct their own learning.
A child fascinated by robotics can dive into coding tutorials, experiment with Lego kits, and even join global maker communities. In India and Pakistan, small but growing unschooling networks now host workshops and meetups for families who want their kids to learn outside rigid systems.
The idea isn’t to abandon structure, but to let passion be the driver of knowledge. Don’t confine children in quizzes and essays, let them grow as they are meant to. Let curiosity take the lead!
The Classroom Without Borders
Travel has always been a quiet educator. And while travel is a privilege in itself, it doesn’t always have to equate to a major trip to Barcelona or Rome.
Knowledge is everywhere, from the narrow streets of our cities to the roads leading to our humble villages. There is a fancy word for this, too, which families are now embracing – “worldschooling”
Here, road trips, cultural immersion, and global exploration become lessons in language, history, geography, and empathy. The world is our living classroom. In the world school, we let kids learn fractions while converting currencies at a local bazaar, pick up new languages by chatting with street vendors, and discover history while wandering through centuries-old forts or marketplaces.
Education is not a One-Size-Fits-All
Schools and tuitions will always have their place, but they are not the whole story.
A well-rounded education might just be waiting in a kitchen experiment, a family journey, a child’s self-started project, or even … YouTube! There is a whole generation of learners who have taught themselves through Coursera.
There are no boundaries to learning. Instead, by breaking the mold of classes and tuitions, and embracing alternative ways of learning, we prepare children not just to pass exams, but to thrive in this unpredictable reality that changes every day, and rewards only those who love learning and swear by the magic of curiosity.
