Education occasions
Nine days about learning, from International Literacy Day to National Mathematics Day and graduation, with dates and what to write to a student, a teacher or a parent.
Most of these days are marked inside institutions rather than at home: an assembly, a competition, a circular from the principal. That shapes what a good message looks like, because it is usually written by a school, a teacher or a parent rather than sent between friends.
Days India adds to the international calendar
National Education Day on 11 November is Maulana Abul Kalam Azad's birth anniversary, marking India's first education minister. National Mathematics Day on 22 December is Srinivasa Ramanujan's birthday. National Youth Day is Vivekananda's.
The global ones are the International Day of Education, International Literacy Day on 8 September, World Book and Copyright Day on 23 April, World Youth Skills Day, the International Day of Women and Girls in Science and World Students' Day, which falls on A. P. J. Abdul Kalam's birthday.
Graduation is the one personal milestone in the group.
What to write to a student
The instinct is to give advice. Resist it on the day itself.
What a student remembers is being seen: the subject they fought with, the year they nearly quit, the thing they are better at than they think. Write that instead of "the future is yours".
For results, exams and admissions, avoid comparisons with siblings and cousins entirely, and congratulate the preparation rather than the mark. Congratulations messages covers what to write when the result is good, and what to write when it is not.
For teachers, the professional days carry Teachers' Day, and a specific memory beats any amount of praise.