protest at hijab head cover becoming part of school uniform

MORE than four in 10 Islamic schools in England that accept girls require them to wear a hijab, according to research.

The uniform policy of compulsory head cover in 59 of 142 Islamic schools, including 27 primary schools, was criticised by the National Secular Society.

It has written to Education Secretary Justine Greening over its figures, which also show that eight of the secondary schools and three of the primaries are state-funded.

In the letter, the Society asks for Muslim girls to be given “free choices” and to issue guidance that primary schools should ban headscarves.

It said: “In our view, the forcing of a child to wear the hijab, or any other item of religious clothing, is entirely at odds with this fundamental British value and with wider human rights norms on children’s rights.

“This conflict needs to be addressed.”

The letter, co-signed by NSS campaigns director Stephen Evans, human rights activist Sara Khan and journalist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, also says: “We are further concerned that a number of non-Islamic schools appear to be acceding to fundamentalist pressure to incorporate the hijab into their uniform.

“Given the ‘justifications’ that lie behind so called ‘modesty’ codes, and its implicit sexualisation of children, we regard it as a matter of deep regret that so many schools are facilitating young girls being dressed in the hijab.”