The issue in this case could be that critical thinking and problem solving in a real life subject like geography could be too complex for the exam board to come up with scenarios and answers which would be simple enough to be answered but complex enough to be worth doing, you also need facts memorized to be able to do this

This also brings us back to the original point, we are learning to pass an exam, not learning to do other things, critical thinking would not help you pass the geography exam so is not taught, I believe this problem lies with the exam boards rather than with the schools and teachers usually