A number of Muslim parents are confused and angry at a Chief Ofsted Inspector’s suggestion to forbid primary school girls from wearing the Hijab to school.
Amanda Spielman has spoken out against wearing the hijab in primary schools, which prompted Labour Councillor Rakhia Ismail to write a letter this week arguing that discriminatory clothing regulations and bans have no place in “a free and democratic country”.
In a letter to the Islington Tribune, Ismail wrote this week “Your job is to provide educational leadership to British schools. Stick to it and stop causing stress, confusion and division among young girls over how they dress.”
The initial decision to ban young girls under the age of eight from wearing the Hijab to school stemmed from Neena Lall, the head of St Stephen’s primary school in Newham, East London, on the grounds that Islamic teaching did not require girls to wear the Hijab until they reach puberty.
However the Muslim council of Britain responded to this by saying that the “lack of appropriate engagement will undoubtedly strengthen the negative perception amongst many Muslim parents about Ofsted’s interventions”.
Residents of Holloway ROad were outraged by the suggestion.
“How can someone just intervene into someone else’s religion without any knowledge of it, I respect that she is a chief ofsted inspector, but still… ” said Demetri Alanis, 26, who works at Nandos outside London Metropolitan University on Holloway Road.
The grounds that Neena Lall based her decisions to ban the hijab for girls heavily angered and provoked a number of councillors and parents, as they argued that Lall had made this decision without any consultation.
On the other hand a number of women agree with the proposed ban, as they believe wearing the Hijab as a young girl only sexualises them. Muslim woman Nimco Ali, states that the Hijab is essentially meant to be worn to cover women in order to avoid tempting men.
“I am the only adult women in my family who does not wear the Islamic headscarf, the Hijab,” Ali wrote recently in The Evening Standard. “But putting children in a hijab is akin to dressing them in high heels and make-up. It is sexualised clothing. By covering up young girls, the implication is that they are sexual beings. In our attempt not to offend those who believe this, we are limiting girls’ rights and freedom.”
Although Lall’s school later announced that the decision to go forward with the ban had been overturned a week later, due to the resignation of the chair of governors that supported Lall’s decision, there will still be a meeting between Ofsted and faith school representatives due to Spielman’s policies put forward. The meeting will discuss a new policy put in place, which penalises schools that adhere to pressure over uniforms.
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