UK watchdog to question schoolgirls on hijab
Britain’s schools watchdog on Sunday announced that its inspectors will question primary schoolchildren on the decision to wear garments of faith like the hijab, reports PTI.
The move follows concerns that girls as young as four are being forced to wear the Muslim headscarf to school. Ofsted chief Amanda Spielman fears that schools may be in breach of equality laws if young girls were required to wear religious garments while boys were not, The Sunday Times reported.
“In seeking to address these concerns, inspectors will talk to girls who wear such garments to ascertain why they do so in the school,” Spielman said.
Spielman has also called on parents and the public to complain to head-teachers if they think schools are not treating girls and boys equally. If the school does not take the complaint seriously, the complainants should go directly to Ofsted, she says. A Sunday Times survey revealed that nearly a fifth (18%) of 800 state primary schools in 11 regions of England list the hijab as part of their uniform policy, mostly as an optional item.
One of the country’s top state primary schools, St. Stephen’s School in east London, revealed it had banned the hijab for girls under eight last year, despite protests by parents.