Calculus and chemistry are among the pressures awaiting Mesuka Akter, a senior this year at Long Island City High School in New York City.
But unlike past school years, Akter, a Muslim, will not have to choose between missing school and missing the two holiest days on the Islamic calendar.
Provided an early or late moon does not change the Islamic lunar calendar, Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan, is expected to take place Sept. 20. Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice, is expected to come on Thanksgiving Day or the Friday after.
“It feels great to know that I’ll be home, hopefully, with my family,” said Akter, who has two younger brothers. “But you also have to keep working to change things, because this will be a problem again next year.”
Tough call. The article says that the two main Jewish holy days became days off when the Jewish student population was about 20% and the staff was 40% Jewish. In this case, the Muslim student population is said to be about 10%. Additionally, Muslim Eids depend upon the sighting of the new moon, so the scheduled day may not be the actual day. A Hindu parent is quoted as saying that working ahead with teachers to avoid major tests and projects on Diwali works well. Perhaps this might work better for the Muslim students.
We have a substantial minority Muslim population around us, as well as Jewish and, well, everything else. A friend who teaches at a huge high school in the next county says that they started closing for the first day of Ramadan because the kids were just too thrown off and there tended to be a lot more fights and other disruptions.