LAW TRUMPS SCHOOL CODES

THE issue of religious and cultural rights of pupils at schools has again become the focus of discussion. Specifically, the issue of a few pupils who are particularly religious or are undergoing religious instruction while simultaneously seeking mainstream education in a secular schooling environment.

The result is a conflict between the constitutional rights of religious freedom and the school governing body’s rules.

Cultural and religious expressions such as to keep a beard, which in terms of some religions is also an expression of piety, are acts of religious freedoms protected by our Constitution.

A family member enquired at a Durban high school about the freedom of religious expression at the school and was told that the school does not allow Muslim male pupils to keep a beard, even those with a letter from their religious leaders confirming that such pupil is religiously inclined.

This is a government school.

A few years ago the Department of Education ruled in respect of a freedom of religious expression case at a Durban girls’ school that religious rights must be respected. In this instance the female Hindu student was allowed to wear a nosering as part of her right of cultural and religious expression.

A school uniform policy or dress code should take into account religious and cultural diversity. Measures should be included to accommodate pupils whose religious beliefs are compromised by a uniform requirement.

The school’s principal, governing body and management should accept that the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa is the highest law of the land and surpasses governing body rules. The latter should therefore be amended to conform to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Those that sign the acceptance of the said rules often do so under duress for fear of their application not being accepted. These rules should therefore be flexible to accommodate such pupils rather than being exclusionary.

RIYAAD DHAI Durban