UK schools may close for Ramadan

Some schools in Britain could soon be allowed to close for non-Christian religious festivals, it has emerged.

The move comes as figures reveal a big increase in absences from city classrooms for 'religious observance'.

Under new council guidelines currently being drawn up, schools in Manchester where more than 40 per cent may be absent for a religious festival could decide to close.

Parents are legally entitled to take their children out of school for non-Christian religious festivals, such as Ramadan.

But because academic holidays are largely based on the Christian calendar, they can't do it without missing lessons.

Now headteachers could soon be timing teacher training days to coincide with holy dates such as Eid ul Fitr, Eid ul Adha, Yom Kippur and Diwali.

Schools must still be open for the legally-required 190 days a year so that no pupil misses out on teaching time.

Meanwhile, the traditional school calendar, with Easter and Christmas holidays, stays the same.

The changes are most likely to affect schools in areas such as Longsight and Cheetham Hill that have a large percentage of Muslim pupils....