Lucknow: Even as Christmas is being celebrated on Thursday, schools in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh will remain open, with the state government announcing that there will be no holiday for students on December 25 this year.

The Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government has directed that schools across the state will function as usual on Christmas Day and that student attendance will be mandatory. It has also instructed schools to organise programmes marking the birth centenary of former Prime Minister and senior BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee on the same day.

This decision stands in contrast to several other states where Christmas Day has been declared a holiday. States such as Kerala, Rajasthan and Punjab have announced extended Christmas vacations for schools.

In Kerala, schools will remain closed from December 24 and reopen on January 5. Rajasthan has declared holidays from December 25 to January 5, while schools in Punjab will observe a Christmas break from December 22 to January 10.

Christmas Day will also be observed as a holiday in states including Delhi, Haryana, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

In previous years, Uttar Pradesh schools were given a holiday on Christmas Day.