Schools shift Bakri Eid holiday from Sept 12 to Sept 13

Schools had to rescheduled the date following a central government announcement on Thursday

Schools across Mumbai are switching Bakri Eid holiday to September 13 from the previously declared September 12 after the Centre changed the official gazetted date for the holiday. Some schools said they will mark attendance leniently on both the days.

Most of the city schools had followed the Maharashtra state government holiday list, which marked September 13 as a holiday, but some of the non-state board schools had announced September 12 as holiday. However, the central government on Wednesday announced the official celebrations on September 13, forcing several schools to change the holiday date.

“We had announced a holiday on September 12 as per the central government holiday list, but we have now changed it to the September 13,” said Avnita Bir, principal, RN Podar School, Santacruz (West), adding that September 12 will now be a working day. “We informed students of the change via e-mail.”

She added that the school will be lenient on attendance on Monday as families might have planned a long weekend in advance. “Such things keep happening in India so it’s okay. We will not be too strict about attendance on Monday,” said Bir.

Even Apeejay School, Nerul, had to postpone the holiday. “We received a circular on Thursday stating that the holiday should be on September 13. We will spread the word through the school portal and WhatsApp groups.”

However, HVB Global Academy, Marine Lines, will decide the holiday date depending on an opinion poll . “As of now September 12 has been declared as a holiday, but our staff informed us that Eid might fall on 13. But since many have already made plans for the holiday in advance, we asked students about their plans,” said Chandrakanta Pathak, school principal.

State board schools did not face a problem as they had announced holiday on September 13 itself. Alexandra Girls English Institution, Fort, will observe the holiday on September 13. “We have marked it as a holiday in our school calendar so we will stick to it, no matter what,” said principal Freny Mehta.