Ramadan holiday plan for Bahrain pupils

Manama: A lawmaker said that the parliament would push for a proposal to declare the last five days of Ramadan as a public holiday for pupils.

Abdullah Al Dossary told Gulf News yesterday the holiday will be adjusted with summer or spring vacations, so it would not affect the length of the academic year. The holiday is for schools and educational institutions affiliated with the ministry.

The proposal aims to allow students to concentrate on worshipping or performing Umrah, Al Dossary said.

A similar proposal was submitted in the first legislative term and was rejected by the Ministry of Education to avoid increasing the academic year by five days as that would delay the schedule of the re-examinations. These should take place before the end of June of every year. It would also increase transportation costs for the ministry.

According to the ministry, holding the re-exams in July would force the government to pay overtime to teachers and principals as the academic year ends in June and the proposal would force the ministry to reschedule its programmes.