Day off for Ramadan in Italian school criticised as attack on Italian values

On Mar 27, 2024

TOPSHOT - Muslim worshippers arrive to attend a morning prayer on the first day of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, at the industrial wasteland of Parco Dora in Turin on April 21, 2023. (Photo by Marco BERTORELLO / AFP) (Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP via Getty Images)

RELIGIONS NEWS AGENCY (REDNA) – A school near Milan which announced a day off at the end of Ramadan but the decision has faced criticism from ministers in Giorgia Meloni’s government.

The Times reported the ministers in Giorgia Meloni’s government said the decision is an attack on Italian values.

The Iqbal Masih school in Pioltello will close on 10 April to mark Eid al-Fitr, the celebration at the end of Ramadan, as an estimated 40 per cent of its pupils are Muslim and are unlikely to show up.

The deputy prime minister, Mateo Salvini, called the move “unacceptable and against the values, identity and traditions of our country”.

He said it coincided with moves to “remove Catholic symbols like the crucifix from classrooms out of fear of causing offence”.

Daniela Santanchè, the tourism minister, is also quoted by the paper: “We must not turn away from our values — the values of the West.”

The 200 teachers at the school in an open letter said the decision was practical and that they were not playing politics or destroying Italian culture.

They complained of having to endure “a wave of hatred generated by the press, social media and politicians”.