Entire southeast Alberta school district getting day off for Eid al-Fitr next year

On Monday, like every other year after a month of fasting for Ramadan, Hikma Musa will skip class to celebrate Eid al-Fitr.

She is among many students at Brooks Composite High School who are marked absent while they are with family and friends celebrating the Islamic holiday.

About one third of students at the school are Muslim, and each year, unless their parents call in, attending celebrations affects their attendance.

But that will change for Musa's final year of high school, thanks to the advocacy work of students and administrators at the school.

Next year, the entire Grasslands Public Schools district will have a day off for Eid al-Fitr.

"You feel included… it's like maybe I can belong to this place," said Musa, one of several students who spoke up for the change.

Grade 12 student Abdi Dawe says being listened to feels empowering for him and the students who come after him.

"I was actually surprised, and impressed and thankful," he said.

"I just try to speak up for everybody and bring awareness."

The idea to grant the day off for Eid came out of student focus groups put together through a research project at the University of Calgary.

From there, the request by students worked its way up through administrative levels in the school district.

Rahat Zaidia, whose research at the Werklund School of Education at the University of Calgary focuses on community connections and racialized minorities in public education, says a team at the school worked to create a space where students could feel heard about their problems.

"Basically, we started talking about what the nature of the challenges were for these students," she said.

Zaidia said there is a high newcomer population in the southeastern Albertan school district, where more than 35 per cent of the population are Muslim.