PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia: Teachers in East Malaysia are requesting for an additional day off from school so they can take a longer break to celebrate the Kaamatan and Gawai celebrations next year.

Sabah and Sarawak Teachers' Unions joint commitee chairman William Ghani Bina said the two celebrations would fall during the school semester next year.

Kaamatan will be celebrated in Sabah on May 31 while the Gawai festival celebrated by Sarawakians will fall on June 1.

"We are requesting the ministry to give us time-off without having to do replacement classes.

"One has to remember that it takes a lot of time and travelling for people here to go back to their villages," he told The Star yesterday.

In PETALING JAYA, the Education Ministry said it would consider the requests. Education director-general Tan Sri Alimuddin Mohd Dom said the ministry had received several requests from the teaching unions and non-governmental organisations in Sabah and Sarawak.

"We are discussing the matter," he said.

Under the school calendar for 2010, the Kaamatan and Gawai celebrations fall within the school term which starts on March 22 and ends on June 4.