No more school holidays on birth and death anniversaries of social leaders, Yogi Adityanath says

LUCKNOW: Schools will no longer be closed on the occasion of birth and death anniversaries of great men and social leaders in Uttar Pradesh. Special programmes will be held to educate the school children about the greatness of the leaders, instead.Announcing this at a programme to mark the 126th birth anniversary of Baba Sahab Bhim Rao Ambedkar here on Friday, chief minister Yogi Adityanath said, "it is not a great idea to close the schools on the occasion of birth or death anniversaries of great people. In fact, many times, children don't even know why the school has been closed. This defeats the purpose of commemorating a holiday on the occasion."The CM further said that children must be given a chance to take inspiration from the great leaders. "To ensure that children take inspiration from the great leaders, special programmes should be organised on the occasion," Yogi said. Citing the example of Ambedkar, he added, "the struggle and journey of Baba Sahab Ambedkar is a story that has inspired many generations and will continue to do the same in future as well."Yogi also said that closure of schools on various occasions was not in the interest of children and their future. "Rule books say that schools should have 220 working days but the target is rarely achieved because of too many holidays. This leaves the teachers with about 130-140 working days which is not enough for students to learn," he said.Taking opportunity to talk about his government, Aditya Nath said, "I want to reiterate that the BJP government is not prejudiced towards any caste or religion. In fact, we are committed to mainstream sections of society that have been left behind in the race for development." Yogi also said that any kind of discrimination and untouchability will not be allowed under his rule.