Non faith school re-arranging events because of eid

[reikizen]

My daughter's primary school is a large multicultural one, but is not a faith school. They sent a letter tonight saying the year 6 leavers assembly has been rearranged to accommodate children who may be kept off school for eid. This means I can't now go as I have to request my shifts at work well in advance and did so on the information the school originally gave. I am really cross and feel like contacting the school as I can't understand why the personal preferences of a certain group of parents should trump all other considerations. I know of at least 3 other year 6 parents who can't attend the new date, and my daughter will be very upset when I tell her. Would you complain?

altered so the school have made a mistake. It happens. Wasn't intentional (and if the muslim parents had been on the ball the whole situation could have been averted).

I'm still struggling to understand why you think it should be the non-muslims who in this instance have to compromise. Its skipping a few hours at the beginning of the day of an event that comes round time and again. Lots of Christians have to work on Christmas Day, Hindus on Diwali etc etc.

should we get rid of the Quran while we're at it? Oh yes please. If we did we wouldn't be having to have this conversation of having to compromise at all for superstitious claptrap (and the world would be a much calmer place

I wonder how the thread would have gone if there had been a non-religious reason for the change? Say, for example, someone had made a mistake about the date of a transition day for a secondary school that some but not all the Year 6s were going to?

Right oh what weebirdie? MistressMia is clear on her views of Islam and those choosing to follow it. She has just stated that she thinks its a load of superstitious claptrap. She was also the first person to come along on this thread to dumb down the relevance of the Eid prayer, suggesting that parents could just drop the children off to school and carry on going to the prayer or simply miss it altogether because, hey, plenty more will come along.

This is totally the schools fault. Not the fault of the Muslim parents who didn't get the date changed months ago! We don't even know why the date has suddenly been changed. Is it because the school suddenly realised the date clash and decided to change it off their own back or is it because a load of parents went to them about it? Dates for things get changed often at schools and there doesn't seem to be this much debate over it!

Yes and many muslims work on Eid day as me and my entire family have had to do in the past. My BIL who works in the NHS works every christmas (so his colleagues who celebrate christmas can have time with their families) and most eids. However we are not talking about adults we are talking about children. Why should they miss their religious celebrations? Shouldn't we try to compromise and accommodate each other when it is possible rather than forcing other people's children to take on second class citizens.

If I was a muslim parent at the school I wouldn't expect them to change the assembly but they better have a back up plan if my child has parts as they wont be there.

MistressMia

Not really sure how the Muslim parents could have been more on the ball. I am assuming that the school sent out a note with the date and they didn't have any input. It isn't clear whether the date was changed in response to parents' requests or the school just did it when they realised there might be a clash.

I don't think that non-Muslims should have to compromise and I think this situation is a real shame and totally avoidable. I just get wound up because any situation involving a Muslim always becomes Muslims vs non Muslims. It doesn't always have to be them against us! This is a cock up, plain and simple.

FWIW I would have sent DD to the leaver's assembly and had her miss Eid, but I objected to the idea that wanting to celebrate a major religious festival as a family was unreasonable or unfair to others.

I was also assuming that the assembly was going to clash with the first day of Eid if it falls on Friday July 17th. If we are talking about the Monday and clashing with the third day of Eid then Muslim parents are being unreasonable.

Maybe the Muslim kids are relieved not too be doing the leavers assembly and the parents glad they had a valid reason not to come and watch. ...

Or is that just my kids who hate the constant rehearsing of things and were thrilled when the xmas play clashed with a religious occasion and they got to skip a performance?

decision sometimes, just sometimes people have to compromise. You appear to seem to think it should never have to be muslims.

The school are in an impossible situation. In my mind, it is fairest that they honour the original arrangements as the muslim parents and children can fit in around it. Yes, won't be ideal and some disappointment but its a few hours.

Lots of other people elsewhere, including muslims won't be able to celebrate their religious or other important occasions in the way they like. The whole of the Islamic world does not come to a grinding halt on Eid. Lots of muslims both in the UK and elsewhere will be working the whole day and therefore will not be at the mosque and will not be with their kids.

I'd really like to know where a previous poster lived that is completely secular. As long as it's not too hot and doesn't have snakes or dodgy spiders is be very tempted!

altered if you are a practicing muslim, then you have an awareness of the relevant dates. Lots of muslims book Eid and in fact the last two weeks of Ramadan as annual leave. Hell even I have some vague mental note of the date(s), knowing that I need to be off to appease my mother.

That's why I'm so surprised that not a single one of them thought to bring this up earlier and avoid the whole clash. That being the case, then surely the muslims have to take some responsibility too for the cock-up and on this occasion be gracious enough to compromise.

Uh so you are still talking about adults having to miss their important days. I went to a very multicultural school and it was routine that jews, hindus, sikhs and muslim children would be off on their religious festival days. The one time I remember a Hindu friend coming in on Diwali it was because both her parents were working that day and it was not a choice but a necessity.

No MistressMia I never said that Muslims should never have to compromise. I think it was you, in fact, that said that the Muslim parents should compromise. I think you just like to stir things up a bit.

Its important on the first day of eid, I think I read somewhere that it may be on the 3rd day of eid, not sure if that's true or not but fine to have to assembly on the 3rd day.

I am spoiled MistressMia because I live in a Muslim country so have the days off anyway. DD gets orthodox and western Christmas, orthodox and western Easter, both Eids and a load of national holidays off school. Religious or not, I think the number of days off she gets would make any child jealous. She also finishes at 12.45 every day. I often wonder what I did to deserve this.

First year we lived in England, we kept my dcs off school on the first day of Eid Al Adha. At assembly that day the school got a surprise visit from two premier league footballers who were visiting a disabled pupil. Everyone took photographs and got autographs. Ds1 never forgave us!

1245!!!!! I would be moving......

Its Eid. Whether its the first, second or third day its not a once in a life time event. No need for so much angst over it. I'd say the same to any Christian, Jew, Hindu or Sikh.

I'm referring to UK muslims, the majority of whom in the past and even now are of Pakistani origin.

That may or may not be true, you seem to be about 250 years out on when Muslims arrived in numbers in the UK so I don't know if you are accurate about this, but we don't know where in the UK the OP is and what ethnicity the children at the school are. They may be Somali for all you or I know, or from Saudi, or from a mixture of places.

Why didn't those that celebrate Eid complain when the timetable came out? surely they should have noticed?

Giles, I suspect they didn't complain because if Eid is on the Saturday it wont matter and if its the Friday then Eid would win hands down over the assembly. The parents were probably just waiting to see how it would pan out.

Sorry, I could have sworn blind that question was asked by a poster with Giles in the name.

But surely they need to work with the school to say if Eid's that day we can't join in. They won't know till last minyte anyway.

And for the third time on this thread. Whether the date may change, or be different for different Muslim: or school has been shut on Friday since the cashier's came out, at least since last September and probably before. It wasn't hard for the school, or the Muslim parents to have forseen this. School should have planned for it, parents should have complained of they felt their child couldn't attend.

Cashier is calendar

These dates are in every (practising) muslims mind. Would have been easy for the school to have avoided any of the potential Eid days at the early planning stage.

weebirdie are you saying its ok for the muslim parents to en-masse just not bother making the school aware of the potential clash and then just pull out nearer towards the time, jeopardising the whole assembly.

If that's what happened the school would have had no choice but to reschedule, which has resulted in avoidable inconveniencing and disappointing of others. They could have taken the route of forcing muslim children's attendance, but I suspect the route they took was the easier less confrontational one with lower likelihood of causing controversy and aggro for them. Longer term it just builds up resentment in one community against another.

Forcing muslim children's attendance

How would they do that since they are entitled to days off for religious observance? Or are you saying children from other religious backgrounds can take off their religious festival days but not Muslim children? Wow how ugly that your hatred extends even to innocent children. Do the muslim children in your family know you think they should have less rights then other children in the uk who are not born to a muslim family?

Also the dates are not in everyone's mind. You know roughly what time of year it is, maybe the months it will fall in but few would know in September when next year's eid will be.

I mean its one thing to say the school should go ahead with the original day and muslim children can choose whether they want to attend it or not. Its a complete other thing to say muslim children should be forced to miss Eid with their families and go to an assembly against their wishes.