Inferior-quality content resulting in a chasm between lessons and real-life, lack of motivation and poor quality teachers are some of the troubles that have been plaguing the Indian education system for long. That said, policies formulated by the government and technological innovations have brought breakthroughs in the education sector. However, the impediments are still many — one of them is the lack of innovative approaches for imparting quality content. Our quest to innovate might end in Finland’s latest educational policy — phenomenon-based learning (simply, PhenoBL) or teaching by topic. Consistently receiving good rankings in the “Programme for International Student Assessment”, Finland has inspired education pilgrims across the globe. Marked by an inter-disciplinary approach, PhenoBL establishes a collaborative mode of working among kids with inquiry and problem-based learning, creation of projects and portfolios. It takes learning out of small isles of isolated subjects and shifts the focus to topics and phenomena like energy, water, media and technology. Pilot projects have been going on since the 1980s; however the implementation began only in 2013. Starting with high schools in the capital, Helsinki, the initiative has begun to trickle down to include all schools in the country. In 2014, Finland re-worked its National Curriculum Framework to ensure adherence to the PhenoBL approach by stakeholders in the education sector. Beginning with the academic session of 2016- 17, every school has been advised to devise a customised learning method and the move has been viewed as an aim to centralise the education system. Let’s take a look at the different aspects of PhenoBL. First, it does not displace traditional subjects like history, geography or mathematics. But an hour of history lessons in the morning and an hour of physics lessons in the afternoon are supplemented by cross-subject lessons. Second, it recognises that learning cannot take place in isolation. Only when links are established among different subject isles, can holistic learning be facilitated. Teachers are required to choose a topic relevant to learners’ lives, and ask them to work on it, thereby covering more than one subject. Third, complementary to enquiry-based learning, PhenoBL ensures that students begin by posing questions and then jointly build answers to them. And last, it facilitates group-learning, thereby developing communication and collaboration skills among students. Coming to India, implementing the system is easier said than done. It took Finland almost three decades but we need to start the learning and implementation process in India in ways such as, � Do away with the disconnect: Learners have often felt a disconnect between the lessons they are taught and their real-life problems. Their lessons actually fail to instill any life skills among them. However, when they research on topics plaguing the present, they become aware of their environment, politics and society, which helps in making them responsible citizens. Further, students are not passive recipients of lessons, but proactive participants, contributing to and learning from the topic in the classroom. This approach could combat the remnants of rote learning. � Improve content: A perennial problem in the Indian education system has been the quality and matter of content, especially in the state boards. Time and again, it has been deemed irrelevant and outdated. However, it continues to be taught. In such a scenario, this approach might bring in new topics in the classroom. � Parity in teaching methods: As it has facilitated learning in standardising Finland’s education, the PhenoBL approach can help enforce similar teaching methodologies across India. The CBSE curriculum has tried to bring in standardisation and this approach can only enforce it further. The international education community has been worried about Finland’s declining scores in international tests. Though it saddens, the slippage does not seem to bother Finland’s educators. They essentially do not wish to trap students in international competitions, instead focusing on teaching what would prepare them for goals and challenges in life. Their attitude is not surprising. With a high happiness index, Finland’s policy formulators have emphasised the importance of quality of life over other petty considerations. There’s a lot that Indian educators and policy makers can learn from their Finnish counterparts if they wish to bring about a positive change in the education sector. THE WRITER IS CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER AND CO-FOUNDER, NEXT EDUCATION INDIA