A government’s decision to prolong summer holidays and re-open schools one week after Eid has been hailed by parents and the academic community.
However, people working in the travel industry said that the inclusion of the full month of Ramadan and the Eid break in the holidays and the non-presence of thousands of expatriates in Qatar would affect their business.
According to the government decision, all independent and semi-independent schools will close on July 7 and re-open on September 19 after the Eid Al Fitr holidays. All the private schools in the country will also resume classes on the same date.
Uniformity in school holidays has long been a demand of parents and the academic community in Qatar. Independent and semi-independent schools have been following different academic schedules, resulting in different schooling dates and concerns for families.
But with the new decision, parents with children enrolled in different schools have said that they would now be able to be together.
However, travel industry sources said that they would lose a major portion of their Eid and Ramadan business due to the prolonged holidays.
“Most of the expatriate families leaving on vacation will return to Qatar only after the Eid holidays, a travel agency official said. “This means that there will be fewer residents going for Umrah from Qatar this year as well as for the Eid holidays. This will affect our business significantly,” he was quoted as saying by Qatari daily The Peninsula.
In neighbouring Bahrain, a decision to make teachers resume work one week before Eid holidays was harshly blasted as “illogical.”
Teachers said that the education ministry should include the last days of the holy month in the break to allow them to devote more time to prayers. Expatriate teacher said that the decision would deprive them of celebrating Eid with their families and that their presence in their schools would not be necessary, especially that students were told that they would start classes after the Eid.
The ministry last month reversed its decision and prolonged the holidays for the school staff as well.
