(a) The Commissioner, with the approval of the Board of Education, shall prescribe rules relative to absences of pupils for religious holidays, including but not limited to a list of holidays on which it shall be mandatory to excuse a pupil of the faith for which a particular religious holiday is declared. In addition, the Board of Education may, in its discretion, excuse the absence of a pupil on any other day by reason of the observance of a religious holiday.
(b) Any absence because of a religious holiday shall be recorded as excused absence on the pupil's attendance record or on that of any group or class of which he is a member, and any transcript or application for employment form or any other similar form on which information concerning a pupil's attendance record is requested shall show, with respect to absences, only absences other than those excused due to religious holidays. In addition, no pupil shall be denied the right to receive any award nor the right to sit for any examination or alternate examination by reason of his excused absence from school for the observance of a religious holiday.