The word “curriculum” comes invariably stuck with Nepal’s modern education system.

Fundamentally, it is supposed to be a guideline on how to study. Education experts believe that learning should never be confined by any “guidelines”.  But this is exactly the case in Nepal.  Yes, this has its own positives. But reading for knowledge should be indispensable, in the world which has shifted from steam-engines to driver-less cars in 300 years. 

It is widely held that a core-curriculum provides a nimble yet structured approach to education. The structure is designed in such a way that it puts students in the learning frame of mind and also monitors their progress along the way. It also lines up the subjects and materials according to the student’s learning potential. This approach makes the whole learning process more efficient. Also, its ability to monitor students and test them on the basis of what they have learnt is considered a useful guide of student weaknesses and strengths. The best feature of a curriculum, probably, is its ability to let students find out what they need to improve on and drill them in those areas. 

While there are legitimate advantages to having such curriculums, I think they also confine learning. Today, by forcing them to read materials that emphasize testing more than understanding we have made many students lose their natural curiosity for learning. The trend of taking shortcuts—question sets, guides and manuals—just to get through the tests is on the rise. As such, our education system, especially our societal norms, has made educational attainment limited to achieving grades. The general assumption seems to be: “If you already have awesome grades, you probably shouldn’t read much.”

This is a wrong assumption. Let us look at the benefits of reading. 

The mental gym
Reading sessions are a lot like gym-sessions for your brain. Just like any other muscle in the body, the brain requires exercise to keep it strong and healthy. The phrase “use it or lose it” is particularly apt when it comes to your mind. 

A lifetime of reading might help keep your brain in shape when you reach old age, according to research published in the online issue of journal Neurology. The study, which included 294 participants who died at an average age of 89, found that those who engaged in mentally stimulating activities, such as reading, earlier and later on in life experienced slower memory decline compared to those who didn’t. 

Reading enhances our analytical thinking skills. Remember the time when you read something and you keenly dissected the contents—about the development of the story, and how it related to your own life, and how you became critics of individual characters. These are all parts of one’s analytical skills. These types of skills are rarely enhanced by testing but heavily by rhetorical reading. You perhaps don’t realize the importance of reading yet. But when you grow old and have to analyze complex topics—related to medicine, economy, public policy, etc—you will understand the difference of reading vs not reading. 

Reading changes your brain physically. According to a study, the changes caused by reading a book are registered in the left temporal cortex, an area of the brain associated with receptivity for language, as well as in the primary sensory motor region. Neurons in this region have been associated with tricking the mind into thinking it is doing something it is not, a phenomenon known as grounded or embodied cognition. 

Set for life
We don’t need research to prove that reading increases your knowledge. It is evident that every time you read something, you are learning something and increasing your knowledge base. While knowledge can’t be exactly quantified, everything you read fills your head with new bits of information which, you never know, might come handy some day. The more knowledge you have, the better-equipped you are to tackle life challenges. Also, every new memory you create, thanks to reading, forges new synapses (neural pathways) and strengthens existing ones.

On the flip side, I did not find any disadvantages of reading. Again, just consider its immense benefits: it boosts your cognitive abilities, enhances memory, increases knowledge, and most importantly, it can take you from life’s daily hassles and enter a tranquil, peaceful world. So if you have some free time, or even if you have to create some free time, please, get reading today.  

 
• reasons to read
 
• nepal
 
• curriculum
 
• modern education system