We may all carry similar memories of National Festival celebrations at school: rehearsing the patriotic songs, pinning a flag onto our uniforms with pride, and the nervous few seconds before we step onto the stage for a performance.
While all of these may be familiar scenes during any national festival celebration at schools, between the flag hoisting and speeches, there is an opportunity for something deeper and more enduring.
There is an opportunity for students to start understanding that Independence Day is not merely about the freedom won back in 1947, but about what we choose to do with that freedom today. Republic Day is not just about a parade. Instead, it can introduce questions about equality, rights, democracy and responsibility. Gandhi Jayanti can move beyond remembering a historical figure to asking whether truth, non-violence and service still hold meaningful lessons in today’s world.
At Universal Wisdom School (UWS), Balewadi, we see national celebrations as an opportunity to begin these thought-provoking conversations.
As an international school in Pune, offering IB and Cambridge curricula, we aim to nurture global citizens. We believe global citizenship begins with understanding one’s own country, first and foremost.
History, as a subject, has a danger of feeling like an abstract subject of the past- one that today’s children cannot identify with or imagine. However, when children can actually see, hear, discuss and participate in history, their experience of the subject transforms.
A chapter may tell them when India became independent. A school celebration, through performance, dance, skits, and song can make the history come alive. It can help students feel the courage, sacrifice and collective effort behind that moment.
This is one of the most important benefits of celebrating national festivals in schools: abstract ideas become experiences children can relate to.
At UWS, occasions such as Independence Day, Republic Day, Maharashtra Day and Shivaji Jayanti are brought to life through assemblies, skits, songs, dance, poetry, role play and student performances. Dressing up as historical figures, enacting important moments, reciting poetry or performing a patriotic song gives children another way to connect with the story behind the day.
An Independence Day celebration in school, for example, can introduce stories of courage, sacrifice and collective action. A Republic Day celebration in school creates a natural opportunity to explore the Constitution, democracy, equality and what it means for people of different languages, faiths and backgrounds to share one nation. Maharashtra Day and Shivaji Jayanti can help students connect more closely with the history, leadership and cultural heritage of the state they live in.
India’s National Curriculum Framework for School Education also connects education with rootedness in India, constitutional values, democratic participation, empathy, pluralism and responsible citizenship.
National festivals give schools a meaningful way to begin with a child’s own history and identity, while also opening the door to values such as respect, empathy and understanding across differences; the same qualities that underpin global citizenship.
A student researching a freedom fighter will explore much more than the text book summary. A child delivering a speech has to understand an idea well enough to be able to communicate it effectively. A group preparing a skit has to listen, practice, compromise and depend on one another.
In this way, through school cultural activities, children naturally practise:
At UWS, this fits closely with our experiential approach to learning. Students learn through doing, questioning, collaborating and reflecting. This approach has also been recognised through the India K-12 Award for Excellence in Experiential Learning Programmes.
There is another important benefit to participation: different children can contribute in different ways. This reflects UWS’s Multiple Intelligence Tree, inspired by Howard Gardner’s theory, which recognises that children engage, learn and express themselves in different ways.
One child may feel comfortable speaking on stage, while another may prefer researching the story. Someone else may express an idea through music, movement or visual art. The celebration therefore moves from being just a performance to something children have helped understand, interpret and create.
National festivals naturally create a sense of pride. While this simple, uncomplicated pride is beautiful, the deeper learning begins when children explore the values behind that pride.
The next question is:
What do those values look like in an ordinary school day?
For a child, responsible citizenship can begin with very simple actions:
This is where the importance of celebrating national festivals in schools extends beyond the celebration itself. The festival introduces the idea and daily school life gives children the opportunity to practise it.
This is a key part of values-based education: helping children see that citizenship is not something reserved for adulthood. They are already members of classrooms, families and communities in which their choices affect other people.
Patriotism and global citizenship cannot and must not compete with one another. We believe the two go hand in hand.
Our educational philosophy places international mindedness alongside a deep grounding in Indian values. This is important in order to develop compassionate and responsible citizens who foster a mature intercultural understanding and respect for differences.
Before children can meaningfully understand another culture, celebrating national festivals helps to give them opportunities to understand their own.
India itself provides a remarkable introduction to global-minded thinking. Within one country, children encounter diverse languages, faiths, traditions, cuisines, histories and ways of life.
Learning that all of these can belong within a shared national identity teaches an important lesson: difference does not have to mean division.
This balance has also been recognised through UWS’s Culturally Progressive School Award at the Mimamsa Awards 2026.Being culturally progressive is not about leaving tradition behind. Rather, it is about helping children value where they come from while learning to live thoughtfully alongside people whose histories and experiences may be very different from their own.
For an IB and Cambridge school in Pune, that understanding is especially meaningful. International mindedness is not simply about learning facts about other countries. It is about developing the curiosity and openness to understand people whose perspectives may differ from ours.
A national festival celebration or assembly may occupy one morning on the school calendar.
Citizenship, on the other hand, is built over a much longer period.
At Universal Wisdom School, Social-Emotional Learning and life-skills education help children develop self-awareness, empathy, positive relationships, resilience and responsible decision-making. The school’s work in this area has also received recognition for Excellence in Promoting Life Skills through Curriculum.These everyday experiences give children opportunities to practise the same values that national festivals introduce, and build these habits into daily school life.
The learning does not need to stop at the school gate. Parents can extend these conversations in small, natural ways.
Instead of asking only:
“What did you do for Independence Day?”
try:
“What did you learn today that you hadn’t thought about before?”
After Republic Day:
“What do you think makes something fair?”
Or:
“What responsibility comes with the freedoms we have?”
Other simple ideas include:
Quick family idea
Choose one national festival each year and discover one person or story your family did not know before. It could be a freedom fighter, social reformer, scientist, artist, soldier, educator or community leader.This reminds children that a country’s story is rarely shaped by one kind of person.
The most memorable national festivals in schools will always include colour, music, stories and celebration, as they should.
Beneath this celebration, can sit a deeper understanding:
At Universal Wisdom School, that is what we hope children gradually take away from these occasions.
The importance of celebrating national festivals in schools lies in helping children connect history with ideas such as freedom, equality, responsibility, service and belonging. Assemblies, performances, discussions and student participation can make historical events more meaningful than learning dates and facts alone.
National festivals provide real contexts for discussing rights, responsibilities, democracy, courage, equality and contribution to society. Children can then begin connecting those ideas with their own behaviour in school, at home and within their communities.
Schools can help children develop pride in their own history and culture while also learning to respect different perspectives and traditions. At UWS, international mindedness is rooted in Indian values. Understanding one’s own identity can become a strong foundation for approaching other cultures with curiosity and respect.
Thoughtfully planned cultural celebrations can develop communication, creativity, confidence and cultural understanding. When children participate in research, performances, poetry, music, art or organisation, they also gain practical experiences in teamwork and responsibility.
A celebration requires students to work towards a shared outcome. They may have to divide responsibilities, rehearse together, manage time, communicate clearly and solve unexpected problems. These experiences allow children to practise teamwork and leadership rather than simply learn definitions of them.
Parents can talk about the meaning behind national festivals, share family and community stories, discuss rights alongside responsibilities and model respect for people from different backgrounds. Even a thoughtful conversation after a school celebration can help children connect the event with everyday life.