23 New Jersey School Districts to Close For Diwali Holiday in 2022

HI INDIA NEWS DESK

JERSEY CITY, NJ- Welcoming 23 New Jersey public school districts closing schools on Diwali this year, Hindus are urging all public school districts and private-charter-independent schools in the state to close on their most popular festival Diwali.

Distinguished Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada today, said that it was simply not fair with Hindu pupils of most of the New Jersey schools, as they had to be at school on their most popular festival while there were holidays to commemorate festivals of other religions.

Diwali falls on October 24 this year; and 2022-2023 calendars of Bernards Township, Bridgewater-Raritan Regional, Central Bucks, Cherry Hill, Clifton, East Brunswick, Edison Township, Fair Lawn, Glen Rock, Hillsborough Township, Hopewell Valley Regional, Livingston, Marlboro Township, Millburn Township, Monroe Township, Montgomery Township, Paramus, Parsippany-Troy Hills Township, Piscataway Township, Robbinsville, Sayreville, South Brunswick, West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School-Districts/Public-Schools/Schools; show their schools closed for students on October 24. Moreover; Colts Neck Township Schools, Englewood Cliffs Public Schools, West Long Branch School District are offering ‘Short Session Day’, ‘single session’, ‘Early Dismissal’ respectively on October 24.

Zed urged New Jersey Governor Philip D. Murphy, New Jersey Acting Education Commissioner Dr. Angelica Allen-McMillan and New Jersey State Board of Education President Kathy Goldenberg; to work towards adding Diwali as an official holiday in all the state’s public schools, and persuading the private-charter-independent schools to follow. Zed also thanked Boards of Education of school districts, which closed schools for students on Diwali, for understanding the concerns of Hindu community.

“The List of Religious Holidays Permitting Student Absence from School” of the New Jersey State Board of Education contains 21 Hindu holidays; which include Guru Purnima, Onam, Naga Panchami, Raksha Bandhan, Krishna Janmashtami, Ganesh Chaturthi, Navaratri, Diwali, Goverdhan Puja, Makar Sankranti, Pongal, Vasant Panchami, Maha Shivaratri, Govinda Dwadashi, Meena Sankranthi, Holika Dahan, Holi, Souramana Yugadi, Chandramana Yugadi, Ramnavami, Hanuman Jayanti. Onam is listed here for 12 days, Navaratri for nine, and Diwali for five.