No month-long school holiday during upcoming Ramadhan<\/p>\n
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Most state and private schools here will not be giving students a
\none-month holiday during Ramadhan, although government
\nregulations allow them to do so.<\/p>\n
State high school SMU 3 in Setiabudi, South Jakarta, will give
\nits students a day off one day before and after the first day of
\nRamadhan, which is expected to fall on Nov.6. To celebrate Idul
\nFitri, students will be off from Nov. 29 to Dec. 14.<\/p>\n
School deputy principal KM Yusuf told The Jakarta Post on
\nTuesday he was worried that too many holidays would make the
\nstudents lazy.<\/p>\n
The academic calendar issued by the Ministry of National
\nEducation requires all state schools to declare a holiday one day
\nbefore and after the first day of Ramadhan, and from Nov. 29 to
\nDec. 14. Schools have the freedom to decide for themselves how
\nthey will manage the other days during Ramadhan.<\/p>\n
According to the calendar, there are 260 school days in the
\n2002 to 2003 academic year.<\/p>\n
Yusuf said his school would organize a religious program for
\nthe new students, from Nov. 9 to Nov. 11.<\/p>\n
During the fasting month, the school would start 30 minutes
\nlater than usual, at 7.30 a.m. Each session, which usually lasts
\n45 minutes, would be shortened to 30 minutes.<\/p>\n
A week after students return to school from the Idul Fitri
\nholiday, they would have to take the semester test, scheduled to
\nbegin on Dec. 26 and last until Dec. 30.<\/p>\n
Elementary school SDN Tanah Abang 1 in Central Jakarta also
\ndecided to declare as holidays only the days specified by the
\nacademic calendar issued by the ministry.<\/p>\n
\"We will spend more time on religious subjects with the
\nstudents,\" said Sulasmo, a teacher at the school.<\/p>\n
The school day will start at 7.30 a.m. and end at midday,
\ncompared with 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. normally.<\/p>\n
Al Azhar Islamic junior high school in Kebayoran Baru, South
\nJakarta, will be off from Nov. 5 to Nov. 9 and from Nov. 29 to
\nDec. 14.<\/p>\n
\"We have decided to continue with lessons during the fasting
\nmonth because parents didn't want their children doing nothing,
\nwhile the students also feel bored with little to do during the
\nmonth,\" principal S.Imam Suwaji told the Post.<\/p>\n
The school will provide students with more religious
\nactivities, such as Koran reading.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, students at SMK St. Theresia, a vocational Catholic
\ntourism high school, have to work hard during the fasting month.
\nThey will have a one-day holiday on the first day of Ramadhan,
\nand take semester tests during the period Nov. 18 to Nov. 30,
\naccording to Theresia Seneng, a teacher. The students will have
\nIdul Fitri holidays from Dec. 2 to Dec. 8, and return to school
\nbefore the Christmas holiday from Dec. 23 to Jan. 2.<\/p>\n
In 1978 former president Soeharto ruled that all schools
\nshould not have a month-long holiday during Ramadhan. But in 1999
\nthen president Abdurrahman Wahid required all state schools
\nacross the country to have a holiday for the whole month of
\nRamadhan.<\/p>\n
However, the policy failed to win support from either schools
\nor parents.<\/p>\n
\"It was not effective. But now, the ministry has given schools
\nthe freedom to schedule their educational programs in accordance
\nwith their requirements,\" Yusuf said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/no-month-long-school-holiday-during-upcoming-ramadhan-1447893297",
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