Cape school changes exam timetable to accommodate Eid after outcry

Muslim pupils at a Cape Town school faced a conundrum when they learnt exams would be written on Eid, despite the school having no classes on a Christian holiday.

But the school has since changed the timetable, stating in a letter sent on Tuesday that exams scheduled on Eid would now be written the next day.

Principal Edward Hattingh said that Muslim students and parents were consulted before coming to the original decision. He estimated about 100 of the school's 620 students are Muslim.

On Monday, De Waveren Primary School in Ruyterwacht told parents in a letter that the school was closing for Ascension Day on May 30 but would hold exams on Eid, the celebration of the end of Ramadan.

"Due to the fact that the majority of the school's learners are of the Christian faith, we will be closed on the 30th of May 2019 for Ascension Day," the letter read. "In the light of the above, we also respect the Muslim faith and understand that Eid is on the 5th of June. We suggest that the learners attend the exams at 9am and then leave to celebrate after completing the paper if it is at all possible."

Hattingh said that the school had no time to apply for a day off for the Muslim holiday because the exam dates were changed last minute.

"There would never be an intention to discriminate," Hattingh said, noting that he told staff that students were not to be penalised for writing the exam later.

"It was just a practical arrangement … a suggestion that learners come in to write if it’s possible. The wording in the letter clearly states that it's a suggestion."

"Learners who exercise world religions, and are a minority of the school, should also have the opportunity to celebrate published religious holidays," the Western Cape education department said on Twitter.

This did not stop the backlash on social media.

Hattingh said the school’s governing body had made the initial decision.

"I spoke to one of our governing body members who also belongs to the Muslim faith, asking if we could make an alternate arrangement," he said. "She said if the exams fell on Eid, learners could go write the next day. I asked her about morning prayers and she said they would be done by 9am.

"It came from the community that it would be accepted," he said.