Muslim mother’s legal threat over veil ban at her children’s school
A MUSLIM mother is threatening legal action against an elite school known as the ‘ socialist Eton’ after being told not to wear a face veil there.
Rachida Serroukh, 37, said Holland Park School had discriminated against her because of her religion.
The single mother-of-three, who attended the school in Kensington, is a devout Muslim and has worn a face veil for 14 years.
She was upset when a teacher told her at a parents’ evening that she would not be allowed to cover her face in school.
Her solicitor, Attiq Malik, has written to the school saying its actions were a ‘straightforward’ test case of discrimination on the grounds of religion.
Mr Malik, of Liberty Law Solicitors, added: ‘The Government constantly talks about British values. To me, those values include diversity and multiculturalism.’
The case is the latest in a row over whether Muslim staff, pupils and parents should be allowed to cover their faces in schools.
Supporters say it is a religious right, while critics say it is inappropriate in a school setting.
Last year, Ofsted’s then chief inspector of schools Sir Michael Wilshaw said schools that let pupils or staff wear full-face veils could be rated ‘inadequate’ if it ‘clearly hinders communication and effective teaching’.
Miss Serroukh, a childcare assistant whose 11- year- old daughter is to attend Holland Park, said she was challenged by staff on June 13 when she visited the school, which is known as the ‘socialist Eton’ because although it is a comprehensive it is in one of
‘What happened is discrimination’
the most expensive catchment areas in the country.
After listening to a talk by the head, she said a member of staff took her into a room and told her it was the school’s policy not to allow face veils.
Miss Serroukh said that at first she thought the teacher had misunderstood and meant her daugh- ter could not attend in a face veil. She told The Guardian: ‘As the teacher was female, I lifted my veil when we were talking.
‘ I explained clearly that my daughter wears a headscarf and would not be coming to school in a face veil.
‘Then I realised she was talking about me not my daughter.
‘I was very shaken and was in a state of shock about what had happened. I had never experienced anything like this before.
‘I have experienced name calling in the street from strangers about my veil but nothing like this had ever happened before. When I got home, I just broke down.
‘I feel like I don’t belong here, even though I live across the road and used to attend the school.
‘What has happened to me at Holland Park is discrimination.’
The Department for Education leaves it up to individual schools to decide whether staff and pupils can wear face veils, but its guidance says nothing about parents and other visitors.
Holland Park deputy head Ross Wilson said it was a health and safety issue to be able to identify all of those on the school site.
He emailed Miss Serroukh explaining the school did not have a written policy banning visitors wearing a face veil, but said it now intended to introduce one.
However, Miss Serroukh said the ban was unnecessary because she always lifted her veil when asked to do so for security purposes.
The school, whose former pupils include Left-wing journalist Polly Toynbee and the children of Labour politician Tony Benn, did not respond to a request for comment yesterday.