PARENTS HIT OUT IN DISPUTE OVER EID ATTENDANCE

Call for ‘understanding’ over absences

A DAD has criticised his daughter’s school – in a row over Eid celebrations.

Belgrave St Bartholomew’s Academy had already warned parents that if Eid fell on May 2 this year all its pupils would be expected back in school the following day.

But ‘lots of children’ did not turn up for lessons at the Lightwood school on Tuesday following family celebrations.

It meant any child not reported as ‘ill’ would be marked down as an ‘unauthorised absence’.

Now one parent is calling for greater understanding of Eid – especially when Christians get two weeks off school to celebrate Christmas.

The dad said: “We celebrate Eid over three days – and this time that was Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

“I spoke to the school and they said my daughter was supposed to be in school on Tuesday and she wasn’t.

“I tried to tell them it was Eid, but they said Eid was on the Monday. I said at Christmas they have two weeks off, but the school just said that the holidays are set by the council.

“About 80 per cent of the children at the school are Muslim. Eid is a time to spend with family. We were with family on Monday and came home very late. I wasn’t going to get my daughter up at 7am to go to school.

“No one is happy about it. We are not expecting some sort of great favour, just that if we have a religious occasion once or twice a year you would expect the school to be understanding of that.

“The school has marked this as an unauthorised absence and it’s not very encouraging for a child like mine who had a 100 per cent attendance record.”

Eid al-fitr 2022 was celebrated in the UK on Monday following the first sighting of the new moon. It meant Belgrave St Bartholomew’s Academy did not know the exact date of Eid before the bank holiday weekend.

In a message to parents, dated April 29, the school said: “I just wanted to remind everyone that Monday is a bank holiday and school will be closed. If Eid is on Monday, we expect all children to be back in school on Tuesday as normal please.

“If Eid falls on Tuesday, we will authorise one day for religious observance for our Muslim children and expect them to be back in school on Wednesday.

“We know that Eid is a very special time for a lot of our families and wish all of you Eid Mubarak. Have a wonderful time celebrating.”

But when a number of children did not turn up for lessons on Tuesday a second message from the school stated: “We have lots of children who have not turned up to school.

“If your child is ill you need to report them absent. If you do not contact school they will go down as an unauthorised absence.”

The Sentinel has contacted the Sussex Place school for a statement regarding the issue.