The stretch of school between Presidents’ Day and spring break feels like an eternity. For a month and a half, there’s not so much as a long weekend, despite the numerous holidays celebrated around the world. 

For example, this year’s Lunar New Year was Feb. 17. The Indian holiday Holi was celebrated on March 4. Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, takes place on March 20. These international holidays are celebrated by billions across the world every year, but every year, there is never a space for celebrating them in the school calendar. When students attend celebrations for these holidays, they have to use their own absences to partake in festivities, disrupting their studies and forcing them to use up their limited opportunities to miss school when necessary. 

Within our current school system, we get long-weekends primarily for American holidays—for example, Presidents’ Day weekend is only celebrated in America. This is because, obviously, we go to school in America. However, our winter break is generally centered around the holiday of Christmas, as the first day of winter break always falls before Christmas. While Christmas is celebrated in both religious and secular ways, it is still by nature a Christian holiday. 

These two examples highlight the paradox within our yearly calendar. We can make time and space for both purely American holidays and also holidays with ties to a certain cultural aspect, in this case, religion. Yet, Christmas is the only holiday that receives this treatment. The main defense for this decision is that Christmas has evolved so greatly to encompass celebrations with little to no religious aspects that the timing of this break is inclusive of all groups. However, the bottom line is, it’s clearly possible to make room in the school calendar for cultural holidays. 

Obviously, it’s impossible to accommodate breaks and time off from school for every single global holiday at any time—we would never have to go to school if that were the case. But it is increasingly important to consider how to balance pragmatism with inclusivity, and there are certainly ways that the school can change its attendance policies so that students can celebrate their culture without the burden of worrying about attendance and how their time off will impact their studies. 

For example, if a student is missing a day of school to celebrate a cultural holiday, the absence can be excused. In addition, students might not receive penalization for any gaps in their studies and will be accommodated as they work to make up any missed work. 

While it may not be wholly possible to have breaks for every major cultural holiday, it is important to make the appropriate adjustments to the various holidays that people will need to miss school for. That way, no culture gets erased or overshadowed all at once. 

The views in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of the HiLite staff. Reach Emma Hu at [email protected].