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Month-long school holiday for Ramadan under discussion
Earlier, a video went viral on social media featuring a statement from President Prabowo Subianto, conveyed through Religious Affairs Minister Nasaruddin Umar, announcing the possibility of a full month of school holidays for Ramadan 2025.
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Education matters: Students of SDN 42 state elementary school in Banda Aceh attend a class after a long Idul Fitri holiday on May 2, 2023. (Antara/Irwansyah Putra)
T
he government is considering whether to declare a month-long school holiday for students during Ramadan 2025, Deputy Religious Affairs Minister Muhammad Syafi’i said on Monday.
“There is already discussion” of the proposal, Syafi’i said on Monday at the House of Representatives compound, as quoted by tempo.co.
Earlier, a video went viral on social media featuring a statement from President Prabowo Subianto, conveyed through Religious Affairs Minister Nasaruddin Umar, announcing the possibility of a full month of school holidays for Ramadan 2025.
However, Syafi’i said the ministry had not yet formally discussed the proposal.
“We have not officially discussed it in the ministry,” he said.
Currently, school holidays during Ramadan are typically limited to the first three days of the fasting month, with decisions made by local education agencies and individual schools.
The government’s official holiday calendar for 2025 does not include a month-long Ramadan holiday. Instead, there are 27 scheduled days off, consisting of 17 national holidays and 10 collective leave days outlined in a joint ministerial decree.
The idea of month-long school holidays during Ramadan was introduced during the Dutch colonial era in the early 20th century. The policy aimed to allow educators to contribute to other fields such as health, agriculture and bureaucracy during Ramadan.
In 1978, then-president Soeharto reduced the month-long break to 10 days, with 3 days at the start of Ramadan and 7 after Idul Fitri. The policy faced significant resistance, with many Islamic schools opting to retain the full-month holiday.
In 1999, then-president Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid revived the month-long holiday to encourage students to focus on spiritual and religious activities during Ramadan.
Schools used the time for an intensive Islamic boarding school program (pesantren kilat), while teachers took the opportunity for professional development.
Ramadan is expected to start on March 1 in 2025 based on astronomical calculations, but the official decision will have to wait for the sighting of a hilal (new moon).
