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Sunday, September 22, 2013

UK School Forcing Non-Muslim Teachers To Wear Hijab

Apparently non-Muslim school teachers are being forced to sign a contract agreeing to wear Islamic headscarves while on school property at the Al-Madinah school in northern England.  Had this been a private Muslim school I would say, those are the rules live with it- if you choose to teach at a Muslim school you abide by the rules. However, it is not a private institution, it is state-funded, and initially was "launched as based on Muslim principles and not as a Muslim school.” At least that's what Sue Arguile of the Derby National Union of Teachers claims.

Arguile is also concerned about the segregation of genders.

“There are worries over practices concerning the discrimination between male and female pupils in the school, with the girls being told to sit at the back of the class regardless of whether they can see the board properly." 
The 200 hundred students, ranging from four 4 to 16, are also fed halal-only meals, and teachers and staff are not allowed to bring any non-halal foods on campus.

Imagine the reverse, a Muslim school teacher refusing to remove her hijab at a non-Muslim school, or at a corporation that has a specific dress code. In the U.S. the Council on American-Islamic relations (CAIR) would step in, and she'd get to wear her veil. Happens all the time. I'd support the school's right to dictate what  staff members wear, IF the school was privately owned and funded.  But it's not.
At some point in the future (it's a brand spanking new facility), the school is meant to allow those of other faiths to attend classes, but what non-Muslim parent would send their daughter to a school that forces her to wear a hijab and sit at the back of the classroom?

Ironically, plastered on the front of the school website is this:
"We seek to inculcate in our pupils the core universal principles of equality, fairness, peace, tolerance and respect for all people"
Equality?  Girls forced to the back of the classroom is equality?  Fairness is forcing someone of another faith to wear a veil? Right.

The Department of Education is looking into the Derbyshire school matter.

Sources: Telegraph UK, Al Arabiya

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