Education ministry urged to revise school holiday dates for Aidilfitri in case Syawal comes early

SHAH ALAM - The Education Ministry needs to review the date of school holidays with regards to Aidilfitri celebrations, if the Hari Rya date falls on April 21.

The National Union of Teachers (NUTP) president Jasni Md Kechik said this was based on parents views on the matter and especially to facilitate travel plans as well as to ensure the teachers and students' safety.

"Hopefully the ministry will revise it again so that Aidilfitri holiday can be moved forward and the (start of the holiday) date is on Wednesday (April 19).

"I understand how there are some schools that have already taken special holidays but it can still be re-aligned to ensure schools are subject to the 190 school days (in a year).

"There is no need to take up to four days of holidays if you want to (leave) on Wednesday as the total number of school days will be 189 days. So schools need only take three days of holidays," he said when contacted today.

Previously, the media reported that the International Astronomical Center based in United Arab Emirates (UAE) expected Muslims countries to carry out the moon sighting, to determine the month of Syawal, on April 20th which was predicted to most likely be the end of Ramadan.

In the meantime, Jasni said school holidays will start on April 20th following the expected date of 1 Syawal which was on April 22 based on the original schedule issued by the ministry.

However, he said the matter is subject to change if there is an emergency such as dispute over the date of 1st Syawal.

"In the process of planning the school calendar, the Education Ministry had discussed with the association during the early stages of the preparation and we are aware of it.

"But when there is an emergency case like this, we have to revise the calendar again according to the need, to avoid the same event like last year from repeating.

"Perhaps the Minister (Fadhlina Sidek) can announce a (early holiday date) but it is still subject to the number of school days," he said.