"No music in schools during Ramadan!"

"No music in schools during Ramadan!"

The new guidelines issued by Barcelona City Council recommend that schools modify their curricula during Ramadan. For example, music and dance should be avoided, as some Muslim students may find them inappropriate during the month of fasting.

English NAGYVILÁG 2026. MÁRCIUS 9. 09:19

Barcelona City Hall, through the city’s Office of Religious Affairs, has distributed guidelines to schools on how to adjust activities during Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting. Among other things, the document recommends that schools avoid activities such as music and dance during Ramadan, according to the Swedish news portal Samnytt.

The guidelines, which according to Spanish media were sent to schools in the city, are titled „Guidelines for educational centers regarding Ramadan” and contain advice for school administrators on how to take into account the religious holiday of Muslim students. This year, Ramadan lasts from February 18 to March 20, and the document notes that some Muslims do not consider music and dance appropriate during the month of fasting. As they write,

Some Muslims may consider music or dance inappropriate during Ramadan, as they view the month as a period dedicated to spirituality, where maintaining a pious attitude is particularly important.

In light of this, schools are advised to take this sensitivity into account when planning activities or to offer alternative programs.

Part of a wider religious debate

The guide was presented at a briefing organized jointly by the city’s Office of Religious Affairs and the Barcelona Department of Interculturalism and Religious Pluralism. Some organizations representing religious educators believe that the recommendations in the Ramadan guide carry the risk of aligning schools with a more strict interpretation of Islam. The PREC union, which represents religious education teachers, states that it

welcomes initiatives aimed at accepting and respecting students’ religious beliefs, but believes that the same respect should be shown to Catholic religious education in state schools.

The guidelines also contain recommendations on how schools can deal with Muslim students fasting during Ramadan.

Schools are asked to respect students who are fasting and, where possible, to offer alternative places for them to eat during lunchtime instead of sitting in the canteen where others are eating.

At the same time, they emphasize that schools should not prevent children from eating or drinking, even if the family wants the child to fast.

Non-Muslims must also fast

A dispute broke out in a German school between Muslim and Christian students with immigrant backgrounds. The conflict arose because during Ramadan, some Muslim students were bothered by their non-Muslim classmates eating during breaks. Teachers therefore asked those who were not fasting to eat in secret, according to Focus Online.

According to reports, students with immigrant backgrounds made gagging and vomiting noises when other children ate during breaks.

However, according to the school,

the children who were not fasting provoked their Muslim classmates by eating.

In addition to the teaching staff, the Düsseldorf district government office has also launched an investigation into the matter.

As V4NA also reported, Ramadan is causing increasing tension in Vienna schools as well. This year, the start of the fasting period fell exactly on Shrove Tuesday, so some schools postponed the celebration. A Viennese school principal is sounding the alarm: „The situation is getting worse every year,” he told Heute. Fasting is strictly regulated in Islam: from morning until evening, Muslims refrain from food and drink. Children are usually exempt from this. However, according to the school, the reality is different.

Students imitate adults

– says the school’s management. According to the principal, there are numerous videos circulating of so-called preachers encouraging children to fast, writes the Austrian newspaper Exxpress.

The consequences are also evident in everyday school life. „The children are tired, sensitive, and unable to concentrate,” says the school administration. Last year, a student collapsed during physical education class. „We offer the children water, but they refuse it. They also refuse food in cooking class.” The students say they are fasting. According to the teacher, it is particularly worrying that fasting has become a competition among some students. „Some students turn it into a competition to see who can go the longest without eating,” he adds.

 

English NAGYVILÁG

Címkék:

ramadan, school, spain