The Bihar Education Department issued an official press release on 28 November to address the controversy caused by the publication of the school holiday schedule. It claimed that the previous notification was only in relation to Urdu medium schools. The department aimed to clarify any ambiguity or concern regarding the calendar’s initial distribution and the distinct scheduling for Urdu and regular schools would be made transparent.
The notification read, “Information has been received that various misleading things are being spread in social media and newspapers regarding festivals. The precise matter is that the calendars of the Urdu medium and regular schools are designed separately and two different notifications bearing numbers 2693 and 2694 respectively pertaining to the school holidays calendar for the year 2024 have been made public by the department.” It added that this uncertainty regarding festivals may have spread because social media and news outlets hurriedly skimmed official announcements and made assumptions about them.
The education department went on to state unequivocally that there has been no adjustment made about the total number of holidays granted in 2024 compared to the previous year which is sixty days. The anniversaries of a few prominent individuals like Ashoka and Veer Kunwar Singh are not commemorated separately because they come within the summer vacation period. However, previously, schools would remain open on the birthdays of notable people and freedom fighters. The press announcement mentioned that the summer break was commutated in view of the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
No holiday on Rakshabandhan, Janmashtami, Ram Navami, Shivratri
The Janata Dal United-Rashtriya Janata Dal ruling coalition in Bihar came under heavy criticism from both the Bharatiya Janata Party and netizens after a government notification showed the absence of holidays on significant Hindu festivals like Makar Sankranti, Rakshabandhan, Saraswati Puja, Janmashtami, Ram Navami, Bhaidooj and Shivratri for the academic year 2024.
According to a press release from the Bihar Education Department, the 220 days of instruction needed to comply with the Right to Education Act (RTE) were met when creating the 2024 vacation schedule. The number of days allocated for summer vacation was raised from 20 to 30 in the new schedule. Hindu holidays like Hartalika Teej and Jitiya have been cancelled in order to make room for the three-day celebrations of Eid-al-Fitr and Eid-al-Adha (Bakrid).
Furthermore, just four Hindu holidays, Diwali, Durga Puja, Chhath Puja and Holi have been taken into account. The total holidays on Hindu festivals account for nine days. On the other hand, the holiday calendar included six Muslim festivals including Shab-e-Barat, Eid-ul-Fitr, Eid-ul-Zoha, Muharram, Chehallum and the birthday of Prophet Muhammad. The length of Islamic holidays is eleven days. Furthermore, Urdu language schools were permitted to have a weekly off on Friday instead of the gazetted Sunday holiday.
However, now the state govt has claimed that this holiday list is only for Urdu medium schools, and not for all schools.