Loading...
Loading...
The story behind our Year of Creativity & Innovation
There was nothing especially futuristic about the rolling suitcase.
No moonshot. No lab coat. No breakthrough material.
It was just a very ordinary idea: put wheels on luggage.
For over five thousand years, we carried bags. For millennia, we knew how to make wheels. But Bernard Sadow’s patent for “rolling luggage” was only filed in 1970.
Why did it take so long?
The breakthrough wasn’t inventing either, it was simply noticing that they belonged together.
People think innovation begins with genius, but it actually begins with noticing.
Innovation begins when we notice friction, inconvenience, or what everyone else has quietly accepted as normal. Then comes the question that changes everything:
Could there be a better way?
That, in many ways, is the spirit behind the Vishwakarma Group of Schools theme for the academic year 2026–27: Creativity & Innovation
We are raising children for a world that is changing faster than the one most adults were schooled to enter.
India’s National Education Policy 2020 says this with striking clarity. It recognises that as artificial intelligence, big data and automation reshape work and life, education must become less about knowledge accumulation and more about critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, adaptability and learning how to learn. It calls for schooling that is experiential, inquiry-driven, learner-centred and enjoyable.
The World Economic Forum is hearing a similar signal from employers. Its Future of Jobs Report 2025 finds that employers expect 39% of key skills to change by 2030, and that among the skills rising fastest are creative thinking, resilience, flexibility, agility, curiosity and lifelong learning.
In the age of artificial intelligence, the true competitive edge is human. Creativity, innovation and adaptability are no longer decorative traits. They are part of the economic core.
Long before governments began rewriting education policies, children already knew something adults often forget.
They ask “Why?”
Every.
Single.
Day.
That question is the beginning of creativity and innovation.
This shift isn’t happening only in our classrooms. It is happening around the world.
The OECD’s Learning Compass 2030 uses a beautiful metaphor. A good education shouldn’t simply hand children a map with all the answers. It should give them a compass: the confidence, judgement and values to find their way, even when the path ahead has never been walked before.
In other words, the future will not reward children simply for having answers.
It will reward them for asking better questions.
From India’s National Education Policy to UNESCO, the OECD, UNICEF and the World Health Organization, there is a quiet but powerful agreement: the future won’t belong only to children who can remember the right answers. It will belong to children who can ask thoughtful questions, adapt to change, solve real problems, work with others and keep learning throughout life.
In other words, the world isn’t asking schools to teach children more. It’s asking us to help them become more.
History is full of ideas that were hiding in plain sight.
In 1968, 3M scientist Spencer Silver accidentally created a weak adhesive that seemed to have no real purpose. Years later, his colleague Art Fry used it to stop bookmarks slipping from his choir hymnal. What looked like a failed invention became the Post-it Note.
Swiss engineer George de Mestral returned from a walk with burrs stuck to his clothes and his dog’s fur. Instead of brushing them away, he looked closer. Those tiny hooks inspired what the world now knows as VELCRO® fasteners.
When Japanese engineer Eiji Nakatsu was trying to make the Shinkansen bullet train quieter, he found inspiration not in another machine, but in a kingfisher diving effortlessly into water. Nature held the answer.
Three different people. Three ordinary moments. One extraordinary habit.
They looked closer.
That’s what creativity really is.
Not having all the answers, but noticing what everyone else walks past.
It means creativity is not only for the child who paints beautifully, performs confidently or writes poetry. It is also for the child who asks an unexpected question in science.
The child who finds a simpler way to organise a schoolbag or the child who solves a disagreement between friends.
It is the child who looks at a problem and says, “What if we try it differently?”
These are, in fact, rehearsals for life.
This year’s theme is about far more than encouraging children to “be creative.” It is about protecting something every child is born with, which is the instinct to wonder, question, notice and to imagine that the world could be just a little better than it is today.
Somewhere along the way, many children begin to believe that school is about getting the right answer as quickly as possible. We want them to know that some of life’s most meaningful discoveries begin with slowing down, looking again, and asking, “What if?”
Long after children forget a formula or a date from history, we hope they will remember something even more valuable:
To keep noticing, to keep wondering, and to never stop believing that a better way might be waiting to be discovered.
Perhaps the next great innovation will not begin in a boardroom, or a research lab. or a start-up pitch.
It might begin where so much of real learning still begins best:
At home, in classrooms and in conversations with a child who has been given permission to wonder.
Because the world our children are growing up in is changing faster than ever before. Facts are only a search away, and AI can answer many questions in seconds. What will always matter is a child’s ability to think independently, solve problems, adapt to change, work with others and come up with new ideas. That’s why educators around the world are placing greater emphasis on creativity alongside strong academics.
Quite the opposite. When children understand concepts deeply, ask questions and apply what they learn to real-life situations, learning becomes more meaningful—and often more memorable. Creativity doesn’t replace academics; it helps bring learning to life.
Not at all. Creativity is just as important in science, mathematics, languages, sports and everyday life. It’s about asking good questions, finding different ways to solve problems, working with others and looking at challenges with fresh eyes.
Sometimes, the simplest things make the biggest difference. Listen patiently when your child asks “why.” Encourage them to try, even if they don’t get it right the first time. Celebrate effort as much as achievement. Ask, “What do you think?” instead of giving every answer. A home where children feel safe to wonder, explore and make mistakes is often where confidence and creativity grow together.
