UP madrassa board to discuss changing weekly offs to Sundays from Fridays

The madrassa board will discuss the proposal next month, its chairman Iftikar Ahmed Javed said

The Uttar Pradesh Madrassa Education Board will discuss next month a proposal to change the weekly holiday of madrassas in the state from Friday to Sunday, its chairman Iftikar Ahmed Javed said on Wednesday.

The proposal, which came up during a meeting of the government-appointed board on Tuesday, was opposed by the teachers association of madrassas, saying that effecting the change would send out a wrong message.

Javed told PTI that Tuesday's meeting of the Uttar Pradesh Madrassa Education Board was held in connection with making the necessary amendments to 'Uttar Pradesh Non-Government Arabic and Farsi Recognition Administration and Service Regulation - 2016' and was attended by its members and madrassa representatives.

During the meeting, it was proposed to change the weekly holiday of madrassas in the state from Friday to Sunday, a long-pending demand of various stakeholders, he said.

However, representatives of the teachers association of madrassas opposed the proposal in the meeting, he added.

Javed said a final decision on the proposal will be taken in a board meeting in January.

Diwan Saheb Zaman, Uttar Pradesh general secretary of teachers association Madaris Arabiya, said special arrangements are made for Friday prayers and that is why it's a holiday for madrassas on Fridays.

If this system is changed, it will send out the wrong message, he said.

During Tuesday's meeting of the Uttar Pradesh Madrassa Education Board, only a few people had advocated changing the weekly holiday while the others opposed it, he claimed.

Madrassas across the country are usually closed on Friday.

Friday prayers have a special importance in Islam and in view of the preparations for 'jumma', madrassas remain closed on this day.