Claim that February 21, May Day holidays have been cancelled is false

Multiple Bangladeshi media outlets have recently reported that several national and religious holidays , including February 21 and May Day, have been removed from the school holiday list for the 2026 academic year. However, Dismislab’s fact-check found that these days fall on weekly holidays in 2026, and so no separate holidays are required.

Media outlets including, the daily Ittefaq, Jagonews24.com, Somoy news and others (1, 2, 3, 4) reported that holidays for the 2026 academic year have been canceled for Shab-e-Meraj, Saraswati Puja, February 21 (International Mother Language Day), May Day, Buddha Purnima, Ashura, Janmashtami, Madhu Purnima and Mahalaya. The reports cited a holiday notification issued on December 28 by the Secondary and Higher Education Division.

The same claim also spread on social media. Official Facebook pages of media outlets such as the daily Ajker Kantho and Bangladesher Khabor shared their reports. The daily Ajker Kantho post was shared more than 100 times. Another Facebook page named Kushiara claimed that the February 21 public holiday has been canceled. The post said, “After 53 years, under Dr. Yunus, February 21 has been removed from the public holiday list… Is this just an administrative decision, or a planned attempt to erase the history of 1952?”

During verification, Dismislab found the official holiday notification published by the Secondary and Higher Education Division. The notification, signed by Deputy Secretary Sabina Yasmin, lists all nine days: Shab-e-Meraj, Saraswati Puja, February 21, May Day, Buddha Purnima, Ashura, Janmashtami, Madhu Purnima and Mahalaya.

The notification shows that Saraswati Puja, May Day, Buddha Purnima, Ashura, and Janmashtami fall on Fridays while Shab-e-Meraj, February 21, Madhu Purnima, and Mahalaya fall on Saturdays. Because these are weekly holidays, no additional holidays are required.

In its report, the daily Bangladesh Pratidin quoted an official of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education as saying that days falling on Friday and Saturday were not listed separately as holidays. The notification also said that nationally important days such as February 21 must be observed in schools with due respect.

In short, February 21, May Day and seven other special days fall on Fridays and Saturdays in 2026. Separate holidays are therefore unnecessary and the claim that these national and religious holidays have been canceled is not true.

Disclaimer: The original version of this fact-check report was published in Bengali on Dismislab’s Bengali website on January 1st, 2026. The English translation was completed later; however, to maintain time accuracy and avoid any potential misinterpretation, the English version has been published with the original publication date.