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YOUNGSTERS from across the kingdom will be flocking to the Bahrain International Circuit this weekend to cheer on their favourite F1 stars ... without getting a blot on their school attendance records.
Normally the big race on Sunday falls on a school day but thanks to a concerted campaign by GulfWeekly and support from some head teachers many students will not have to feign the flu to get trackside.
St Christopher's School and its 2,000 students will be joining Ibn Khuldoon School by declaring April 26 as an official holiday this year. In many of the kingdom's other schools, students will be engaged in their lessons and other regular activities.
Declaring the extra holiday, Principal Edward Goodwin, said: "We recognise that the F1 is of tremendous importance to Bahrain and its people, providing a vehicle (no pun intended) to showcase the country to a huge worldwide TV audience."
Mr Goodwin, however, hopes that Formula One executives will consider in future years holding the main race on a Saturday in Muslim countries because Sunday, unlike in Europe for example, is a normal working and school day.
Originally the school, based at two sites in Saar and Isa Town, decided to rearrange its spring break return date. But the Formula One calendar was changed to accommodate last week's Chinese Grand Prix and the Bahrain race was rescheduled for this coming weekend.
Despite the messing around, Mr Goodwin agreed for the school to close on whichever date was set for the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix.
Delighted Martin Whitaker, the BIC's chief executive officer, said: "I applaud the school's decision as I think it underlines the increasing magnitude of the Grand Prix as the largest annual sporting and social occasion that takes place in the kingdom and the importance that the race has to all of us who live here."
Ibn Khuldoon National School in Isa Town took an administrative decision not to open during the Formula One races. Curriculum coordinator George Rizkallah said that the school used to lose up to 30 per cent of its senior pupils when the dates of the final race clashed with classes.
"There is no point in keeping the school open on that day," he said.
