Jersey City, along with seven other school districts in New Jersey's Asian-Indian strongholds, is being urged to declare Diwali a school holiday, though a school district spokeswoman says the move is unlikely.
Diwali, or India's "festival of lights," is the most important holiday of the year in that country, and is generally known as the Hindu New Year.
A five-day event, it is celebrated some time between October and December with feasts and fireworks.
Raju Patel, president of the Jersey City Asian Merchant Association, said he's in favor of Jersey City Public Schools declaring Diwali a holiday and giving students at least the first day of the celebration off.
Patel, 62, said when his three children were younger, he'd let them decide whether to skip class in honor of Diwali.
"I'd tell them very nicely, today is our new year, you don't have to go to school," said Patel, who is also an official with Govinda Temple on Newark Avenue.
According to 2010 Census figures. That's more than double the figure captured by the 2000 Census.
In New Jersey, only Edison has a larger Asian-Indian population.
District spokeswoman Paula Christen couldn't say how many of the district's roughly 27,000 students are of Asian-Indian descent. Christen said it's unlikely the district will declare Diwali a school holiday.
"There's not been any talk about it," Christen said.
In October, South Brunswick became only the second school district in the state, after Passaic, to declare Diwali a school holiday.
Despite Christen's insistence that there's no interest in giving students a day off for Diwali, Patel said he's hopeful the Asian-Indian community can change the district's mind.
"If the school can manage it, I'd really appreciate it," he said, adding that "eventually" it will happen.
