Last week, I went to the home of a sick friend to visit him. I rang the gate bell, and the sick friend himself came down to open the gate. Surprised, I entered asking, "Why did you come down yourself? Isn't it Sunday? Where are the kids?" His heavy sigh clearly expressed the deeper despair that my question had caused him, beyond his already pale face. The children were immersed in their mobile phones. He walked up to them, tapped them on the shoulder, and said, "Look, uncle is here," urging them to greet me. He brought water for me himself. He paused, saying, "Madam also works in a private job, so no holiday today I suppose. Look at their behavior... and I am sick myself..." He was more worried that the children's mobile addiction and lack of practical knowledge would fester like cancer from an ulcer than he was about his own stomach ulcer.

Similarly, while returning from my morning walk, I used to regularly buy green corn and vegetables from a sister who brought them from the outskirts of the valley. One day, I saw her son with her. The boy's arm was broken and in a plaster cast. Her daily routine involved collecting organic local vegetables from the village at dawn, coming to her room, sending her son to school, bringing the produce to sell at the nearby intersection, and then working as a daily wage laborer in a printing factory in the afternoon. Whenever Sunday arrived, managing her child became a major anxiety. Sometimes she took him along to work, carrying him tied to her back with a shawl, or she had to leave him in the room with lunch and a pot for toilet needs, locking the door from the outside. One day, after asking a neighbor in the next room to keep an eye on him, she returned in the evening to find her son in that state. The child had wandered onto the road while playing and was struck by a motorcycle.

"We ourselves are abroad; only the father, mother, and children are back in Nepal. I don't know if there is a problem with the electrical wiring in our house or what, but the electrician repeatedly claims something is broken, takes money continuously, my friend," a friend living abroad complained to me just the other day. These three incidents are experiences that we, as parents, encounter in one form or another. Furthermore, hearing the stories shared by some parents and teachers during Parent-Teacher Association meetings at school is spine-chilling. Hearing about how children nowadays commit troubling acts due to extreme excitement or aggression, or the risks brought on by complete isolation, addiction, and reliance on digital platforms, was truly terrifying.

In Nepal, after the government started implementing Sunday holidays, school children are now forced to stay at home on Sundays as well. Nepal ranks among countries with a high number of public holidays globally. Without conducting research on the impact and outcomes of whether a two-day weekend was necessary for a developing country like Nepal, the government made a hasty announcement. Although the decision was initially made to mitigate the acute petroleum shortage at the time, it continues to be enforced. Rather than debating whether the Sunday holiday was necessary, it is time to think about how schools can utilize it effectively. It would be appropriate to open schools on Sundays to conduct practical life-skills and education classes.

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While doing so, issues regarding equal leave for teachers may arise, but the teaching profession differs somewhat from civil service employment. Winter vacations, monsoon vacations, and breaks after examinations adjust teachers' leave allowance. Fundamentally, teaching is a dignified profession whose labor and value cannot be compensated merely by salary or allowances. In developed countries, two-day weekends apply to everyone—from government to private sectors—where employees manage their domestic affairs according to their full-time or part-time jobs. They are far advanced in childcare, child psychology, and child rights. In our context, a two-day weekend is not mandatory for most private sector offices and the self-employed, except for government offices, public corporations, and a few corporate firms. Currently, we only emphasize studying up to grade 12 for our children. After that, there is an immediate rush to go abroad. Due to a lack of practical knowledge, education, and skills, unpleasant incidents caused by hardships and setbacks abroad are rising, far exceeding the statistics we occasionally read in the news.

Along with this, there is an equal need for practical and skill-based training required in daily life here as well. Sometimes, if two or three electrical appliances such as an induction cooker, electric kettle, or iron are operated simultaneously, the MCB or fuse in the house or flat trips. The only task required is to flip the tripped MCB or fuse back up. We can accomplish this in a minute or two with the help of pliers or a screwdriver. With basic training and caution, this work can be done by oneself; however, due to a lack of minor technical knowledge, we call an electrician and pay 1,000 to 1,500 rupees. Similarly, if a bathroom or toilet gets clogged for some reason, pouring hot water and caustic soda often clears it automatically. It might be blocked by something stuck, yet we immediately hurry to call a plumber. If there is no major issue, the plumber's first step is the exact same. For something that costs two to three hundred rupees, we end up spending two to three thousand. High tailoring charges for stitching unraveled clothes can be saved by taking short training at home with minimal investment. This saves money while developing skills and self-reliance. We have seen and heard of major accidents occurring due to a lack of basic household medical treatment and first-aid knowledge. Furthermore, in a country high in disaster risks like earthquakes, floods, and landslides, practical education and practice starting from basic alertness are crucial.

Under this initiative, practical and applied training can be provided in agriculture and animal husbandry, electrical work and plumbing, driving and vehicle repair, watch, mobile, and computer repair, tailoring and knitting, cooking and nutrition, communication and public speaking, leadership and teamwork, and time and stress management. Additionally, students can observe a "Bagless Day" or "Bookfree Day" once a month, engaging in physical labor and community work, which can be evaluated for internal assessment grades. The current school curriculum is heavily overloaded. By allocating a portion of the current 1024 instructional hours to practical household tasks and evaluating students' practical work, the government should utilize Sunday holidays in education through a three-stage approach covering communication/behavior, life-skills education, and practical application from nursery to college. Education is not merely bookish, theoretical knowledge; it is the fundamental foundation for developing skills, values, and good character in children. Therefore, a separate practical curriculum should be developed, focusing on life skills at the lower levels, skill in education at the secondary level, and cultivating global citizenship in higher education through alignment, practice, and adaptation to global values. — Shankar Pandey 'Mukti' (Email: [email protected])