On Friday when we went to the office we could see that all of the children across the street at the school were dressed in what we would call normal school clothing. There was not a uniform in sight. We then wondered if they would get this coming Thursday off school since it is ANZAC day: a national holiday. We wondered if they would get Friday as well so they would have a long weekend.
When we got to the office we asked Sali about it. She said that not only would they get Thursday off but that today was the start of their fall break. I said that must have been why they were all out of uniform. She said, "Oh, it is a mufti day!" She went on to explain that that was a day that no one worn uniforms to school that day. Wanting to know more I looked it up.
Mufti is of Arabic origin. It is a legal advisor in Islamic law. In the music hall ages, people would dress up as Mufti, in traditional garb, which because of the Ottoman Empire was a fez with a tassel and a dressing gown. This was then picked up as not being in uniform, which is what it now means in English. So mufti day means that the kids don't have to be in uniform. It does come at a price though.
On a mufti day the student pays one gold coin ($1) to not wear a uniform to school. It is often used as a fund raiser. Sometimes a class will get permission to have a mufti day to raise money for a particular event or item for the classroom. If they pay a two dollar gold coin then they are allowed to bring a skate board or a bike to school. These pictures show a one dollar coin both sides and a two dollar coin both side. Imagine paying for the privilege?
My friend Jasmin is a school teacher and she said that they do not tell their students when it is going to be a mufti day until the afternoon before because too many of the girls want to go shopping to buy something new to wear so this way it discourages them from doing that.
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