New York City Declares Diwali A School Holiday From Next Year

Diwali will be a public school holiday in New York City starting 2023 with Mayor saying this sends a message about the significance of the city's inclusiveness and the "long overdue" step will...

Diwali will be a public school holiday in New York City from 2023 with Mayor Eric Adams saying this sends a message about the importance of the city's inclusiveness and that the "long-overdue" move will encourage children to learn about the Festival of Lights.

Adams,

New York Assembly member Jennifer Rajkumar and NYC Schools Counselor David Banks joined Thursday that in his campaign talks, he "learned a lot" about Diwali and what the festival of lights means.

He said by declaring Diwali a holiday in New York City public schools,

“We wanted to send a loud and clear message to the countless people acknowledging this period of celebration.

“At the same time, this is an educational moment because when we recognize Diwali, we will encourage children to learn about Diwali.

We'll get them to start talking about what it means to celebrate the Festival of Lights, and how you turn on the light within you," he said.

The Consul General of India in New York thanked Randhir Jaiswal Adams for making Diwali a school holiday.

“This has been a long-standing demand of the American Indian community.

The recognition gives a deeper meaning to the diversity and pluralism of New York City, while allowing people from all walks of life to experience, celebrate and enjoy Indian spirit and heritage.”

Rajkumar, the first South Asian American woman to be elected to a government office in New York,

She said she was proud to say, "Our time has come. It's time to get to know the more than 2,00,000 New Yorkers of Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh and Jain religions who celebrate Diwali, the festival of lights."

Adams said, “Because we are dealing with so much darkness around us, we fail to perceive the tremendous amount of light around us.

And when we take this period to acknowledge Diwali, we acknowledge the light within us, the light that obviously can drive away darkness and that is why this is so important. Lunar New Year.

"We do this on many other days and many other cultures that we recognize. It's too late to tell our students and our Hindu, Sikh, Jain and Buddhist communities, as we see you, we recognize you. The inclusiveness of this city is so important and this is our chance to say it out loud." over the years,

There have been increasing calls by the Hindu community to declare Diwali a school holiday due to the hundreds of thousands of Indians living in the area. Once the legislation is passed, Diwali will be a school holiday in New York City starting next year.

Rajkumar noted that people said there simply wasn't enough room in the NYC school calendar for a school holiday on Diwali.

This week, Rajkumar introduced legislation in the state capital that would make way for Diwali in the school calendar. She said her legislation repealed Memorial Day,

A "mysterious and archaic" day created in the 19th century so that it could be replaced by Diwali "which is celebrated by an increasing number of New Yorkers". “When this is done, the New York City Department of Education will be able to mark the Diwali holiday on the school calendar,” she said.

She added that she had brought this bill to the table so that all South Asians and Indo-Caribbeans from New York had a seat at the table.

According to New York State education laws, there must be at least 180 days of schooling. However, in order to meet this minimum requirement of 180 days,

No more holidays can be put into the school calendar.

Rajkumar said that by removing the old school Christmas holiday that no one has adhered to, her legislation is making way for Diwali to be a school holiday while meeting the minimum requirement of 180 days for school teaching days.

Thanked Adams for his support,

To say that this is the first time in the city's history that a mayor has committed to making Diwali a school holiday.

"For more than two decades, South Asians and Indo-Caribbeans in New York have been fighting for the Diwali school holiday," she said. "And I stand on the shoulders of these advocates. Now we will finally achieve that goal."

“Next week, we will celebrate Diwali, a celebration of good over evil, light over darkness, and the power of man to overcome, manifested in Rama’s defeat of evil.

We will celebrate the Hindu principles of interfaith communication, harmony, love and tolerance all New Yorkers.

"The same Hindu principles that inspired the great American civil rights hero,

Martin Luther King, who will celebrate the place of our culture in the great civil rights traditions of our country. "The sky is the limit for our society," she said.

Banks said New York City is home to the entire world and that children from all communities and backgrounds attend school here.

BY
ProBuzzFeed