Schools To Remain Open During Ramadan

The Appellate Division said that primary and secondary schools will remain open during Ramadan. On Tuesday (March 12), a bench of five members led by Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan suspended the 'High Court order'.

Earlier, on March 10, the decision of the Ministry of Education to keep primary and secondary schools open during the month of Ramadan was suspended by the High Court. A bench of the High Court, comprising Justice M Kamrul Kader and Justice Khizir Hayat, heard the primary hearing of a writ application filed by a student's guardian on March 10 and issued the order.

Advocate Mahamuda Khanam represented the petitioner in favor of the hearing in court, while Deputy Attorney General Sheikh M. Saifuzzaman represented the state.

In context, on February 8, the Ministry of Education had partially amended the holiday list and academic calendar, allowing secondary schools to remain open for 15 days during Ramadan. Later, the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education also announced that classes would run for 10 days during Ramadan. This decision was challenged in the High Court by a student's guardian through a writ.

The class schedule for this year initially mentioned keeping educational institutions closed during Ramadan. Later, the government announced the decision to keep primary schools open for the first 10 days and secondary schools open for 15 days during Ramadan.

Furthermore, the Madrasa Education Department published the holiday calendar on February 11, where it was stated that Madrasas would remain closed throughout Ramadan starting from March 7. This led to objections from school and college teachers.

Director General of the Directorate of Secondary & Higher Education (DSHE) Professor Nehal Ahmed said that to complete the new curriculum syllabus entirely, secondary-level institutions will have to conduct classes for at least 185 days. With two public examinations, various types of holidays, and natural disasters combined, it becomes difficult to achieve 185 working days in a year.

He said that in countries like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkey, Egypt, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Malaysia - schools are not closed due to Ramadan. Why should we keep this holiday in our country?