Schedule school holidays during Aidiladha: Cuepacs

KUALA LUMPUR: The Congress of Union of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs) has urged the Education Ministry to consider scheduling the second term school holidays to coincide with Aidiladha on July 31.

Its president Adnan Mat said this will allow the public and civil servants, especially those working elsewhere, to celebrate the occasion in their hometowns.

“Most of them, who are living away from their respective hometowns, have done early planning based on the national school holidays.

“Amendments made on the school calendar has affected their planning and it will be a headache for them to replan their holidays, especially when it involves the purchase of flight tickets”, he said in a statement.

Previously, the second-term school holidays were scheduled for nine days from July 24 until Aug 1 in Group A (Johor, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu) and July 25 to Aug 2 in Group B (Malacca, Negri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Perlis, Penang, Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya), coinciding with Aidiladha on July 31.

However, with the amendments, the school holidays have been reduced from nine to five days and as a result, Aidiladha now falls on a normal school week.

Adnan also proposed a special holiday and leave of absence on July 30 and August 3, respectively.

This, he said, would provide some relief to the public, civil servants and teachers who depend solely on school breaks to go on vacation.