The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct.
– Carl Jung

At the December 2024 First International Conference on Early Childhood Development in Nepal, representatives of Kathmandu Metropolitan City shared about their Book-Free Friday initiative, designed to address a long-standing over-emphasis on textbook learning. On Book-Free Fridays, students shift from textbooks to hands-on activities in over 22 categories, including urban gardening, coding, dance, music, art, animation, storytelling, STEAM, culinary arts, carpentry, and much more. Older students might also choose wiring or plumbing, fashion design, mural arts, or leadership development, for example.

The program hopes to engage students in pre-primary through high school by integrating experiential learning and skill building into a curriculum which has long relied on textbook learning. According to a report in the Kathmandu Post, Book Free Friday is designed “to engage students beyond the textbook by going deep into the curriculum, not limiting them only to the rote learning but encourage experiential learning.”

Students have embraced the program. “The mobile repair training has given me hope and confidence,” said Subash Ghimire, 17. “My two brothers are living abroad. If the course I am doing can get me a job here, I don’t need to go abroad to earn.” Ghimire added, “After this course started, my friends are happier and they are also more regular at the school.”

Sita Bhusal, head of the pre-primary unit of Gyanodaya Secondary School, agrees: “Ever since the ‘book-free Friday’ was initiated, the students look happier.” The school has offered activities such as music, dance, drawing, and oratory competitions. “I think, if managed properly, this will be a great way to inspire students to follow their passion. Now they have a choice to learn the things they want,” said Bhusal.