New York City adds two Muslim holidays to public school calendar

New York City schools have added two Muslim holidays to their calendars for official days off, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Wednesday.

All public schools in the largest US system will close for Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Fitr beginning in 2016, De Blasio said in a statement. More than 1 million children are educated through the New York City school system, the largest in the US.

“Today we’ll announce the addition of Eid al-Adha & al-Fitr to @NYCSchools holiday schedule, a change that respects the diversity of our city,” the mayor tweeted.

The news found a glad reception at the Jamaica Muslim Center in Queens, New York. Abdul Khan, an office coordinator at the center, said the school holiday would allow children to join their families in going house to house “to enjoy food, relatives, and get gifts”.

“They are getting their holiday, we should get our holidays also – everybody should have a holiday,” Khan said of the addition of the Islamic holidays alongside Christian and Jewish holidays on the calendar.

Some kids skip school for Eid already, Khan said. “If there is no test on that day, then they stay home, but if there is a test they must go,” he said.

Eid al-Fitr marks the end of Ramadan, and Eid al-Adha celebrates Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son. Schools will close on 24 September to mark the latter holiday. For summer school starting in summer 2016, schools will close in observance of Eid al-Fitr.

The two holidays join Labor Day, Rosh Hashanah, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Day, Dr Martin Luther King Jr Day, Presidents Day and Memorial Day as public holidays on the school calendar.