Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Martin Whitaker, chief executive officer of the Bahrain International Circuit, has expressed his regret over the school spring term opening clashing with the big race day.
He said: "It is the biggest social and sporting event in the Middle East, everybody talks about it around the world and it has helped to put Bahrain on the map.
"It is not just the school kids who will miss out, it will be the teachers. I cannot imagine they do not want to see the Grand Prix."
When planning vacations and breaks, schools have to take into account the Islamic holidays, national holidays and meet the minimum requirements of 180 working days as per the norms of the Ministry of Education.
International schools in the kingdom also have to take into account the different term dates and examination dates according to the curriculum followed.
Bill Frost, principal of the British School of Bahrain, said: "Planning school holidays are a very complex business.
"When we sit to plan our holidays we have debated about giving holidays during major events such as the F1 races.
"While I do understand Mr Whitaker's position and would love to do give a holiday to my students we have to give first priority to the educational agenda of the school."
Edward Goodwin, principal of St Christopher's School, said that he was disappointed about the lack of advance information from the F1 organisers.
He said: "The FIA does not announce dates for F1 events in sufficient time. Indeed, before we wrote the calendar for school year 2008-09 we tried to ascertain the date of the 2009 event - but with no success.
"In addition to internal factors, the Ministry of Education sets a minimum number of days that schools should be open for educational purposes during every academic year. Closing for ad hoc reasons leads to the risk that this number might not be attained. Occasionally, of course, force majeure can lead to such a situation - but this is not the case here - unless, of course, the authorities order private schools to close on April 6.
"Isn't it a shame that the Federation Internationale de L'Automobile cannot show more cultural sensitivity about their choice of days? Must we be foisted with the Western weekend? Why not a Saturday final date in Bahrain?"
This view was shared by Arun Kuumar Sharma, principal New Millennium School DPS, Zinj, a school that celebrates its Founder's Day on April 6. Mr Sharma said: "Closing the school on this day will pose several problems for the school. It happens to be our Founder's Day and there are a series of celebrations planned.
"Our first priority is education and we are answerable to the parents of our school. The only way out for having the day off is for the government to declare it as a national holiday."
Ronald Brown, executive director of the Modern Knowledge Schools, said: "We welcome any government initiative to raise the races to the level of a 'national holiday' that would give encouragement to the schools to include it in their carefully planned annual calendars and celebrate it as a proud occasion for the nation.
"The hoped for solution would come from a statement from the government granting permission to close for that day, without penalty or requiring a 'make up day'. Make up days would inevitably affect overseas travel plans for both expatriate teachers and Bahraini parents who have booked flights out of the country."
However, some private schools will be closed on the all-important F1 race day. These include Bahrain School, Bahrain Bayan School and Ibn Khuldoon National School.
George Rizkallah, acting president of the Ibn Khuldoon National School, said: "We have taken an administrative decision not to open during the F1 races. We lose around 20 to 30 per cent of the senior school students during the races and therefore there is no point keeping the school open on that day.
"The school calendar is planned almost a year in advance. If the races fall on a working day we give our students an early release day. Planning the spring term break during the races has become a win-win situation for everyone."
