The government has provided details to the Assembly and has stated that they will take action against “erring” officials regarding dispute over Urdu schools.
According to Alam, 350 of the 407 schools had since removed the word “Urdu” from their names, and he also stated that 459 of the 509 schools had “rectified” the move to give students Fridays off. The minister continued by saying that there have been “orders passed to initiate action against erring officials.” (This image was taken from an Express file and is representative)
“The traditional practice of giving students the day off on Sundays has been resumed in 459 out of the 509 schools. Urdu will no longer be included in the names of general schools as per the directive that was issued. There have been directives issued to take action against the officials who have made mistakes “he added.
According to reports, the weekly day off for students attending government schools in Muslim-majority districts of Bihar and Jharkhand has been moved from Sundays to Fridays. As a result of the matter being reported by the local media, a political controversy has arisen as a result of the issue.
The government of Jharkhand has stated that there are 407 schools in the state that have been designated as “Urdu schools,” and that there are 509 schools that are “illegally” giving a weekly off on Friday instead of Sunday. Both of these statistics were presented in a statement. A question was raised in the state Assembly by BJP MLA Anant Ojha of Sahibganj, and Minister Alamgir Alam‘s statement was made in response to that question.
According to Alam, 350 of the 407 schools had since removed the word “Urdu” from their names, and he also stated that 459 of the 509 schools had “rectified” the decision to give students Fridays off. The minister continued by saying that there have been “orders passed to initiate action against erring officials.”
The orders that were shown to have been issued by the Primary Education Directorate of Jharkhand in January 2021 showed that the weekly off on Fridays had been cancelled, but nine days later, after objections were raised, they were reinstated.
In a letter dated January 22, 2021, the Primary Education Directorate stated that after the Friday offs were eliminated, “various teachers’ associations have come forward to keep the weekly holiday as on Friday as it was earlier.” The letter said that this was in response to the cancellation of the Friday offs. Therefore, in response to requests from teachers’ associations, weekly leaves will continue to be observed on Fridays across all Urdu schools, and Sundays will continue to serve as a day of instruction.
After the names of some schools in the Jamtara district that included the word “Urdu” were brought to public attention, the debate began to heat up in the state of Jharkhand. On the other hand, an official from the district of Jamtara stated, “It was a practice since at least the formation of Jharkhand that weekly offs were given on Friday instead of Sunday in government schools in minority areas.” The practice of including the word “Urdu” in the titles of educational institutions is a relatively new development.
A person with knowledge of the Education Department’s inner workings stated that “The Directorate had changed the decades-old tradition of Friday leaves in Urdu schools and had brought uniformity while bringing out a leave calendar in all government schools.” [Citation needed] However, there was an uproar in certain sections, and as a result, the Department was given the order to keep things as they were before the uproar. The recent conflict broke out soon after the media brought this issue to the forefront of public attention.
