The secretary of state for education has said it is unacceptable for schools to require young girls to wear hijab as part of school uniform.
The statement comes after the National Secular Society raised concerns about Barnet Hill Academy last month. The Islamic faith school, which recently joined the state sector having previously been an independent school, said it requires girls as young as seven to wear the hijab.
On Monday, Conservative MP Laura Trott asked the education secretary: “Does she think it is acceptable for young girls to be required to wear a hijab to school as part of their school uniform?”
Lucy Powell replied: “No.”
The NSS has now written to Powell calling on her to ensure schools are not allowed enforce sexist religious modesty codes in their uniform policy.
Following public outrage, Barnet Hill Academy changed its uniform policy to specify the hijab is not compulsory for “non-Muslim students”.
And today, Barnet Council told the Telegraph that the school said Muslims are only required to wear hijab for worship, although this is not reflected in the current uniform policy.
School reported to equalities regulator
Trott, along with fellow conservative MP Joy Morrisey, has reported the school to the equalities regulator, the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
They claim the uniform policy may violate students’ human rights and discriminate against girls and non-Muslims.
The NSS has identified 8 other state-funded Islamic faith schools that require hijab as part of their uniform policies: Feversham Girls’ Academy, Preston Muslim Girls High School, Madani Girls School, Bolton Muslim Girls School, Islamia Primary, Al-Furqan Primary, Al-Noor Primary and Iqra Lambeth.
Islamic faith school can select 100% of pupils on basis of religion
Barnet Council approved the school’s application to join the state sector last month. As a Voluntary Aided (VA) faith school, it can discriminate on the basis of religion in 100% of admissions when oversubscribed.
Despite this, the council claims the school will operate “inclusive admission arrangements”, because it will permit applications “from children of all faiths and none”.
The council’s decision states the schools “inclusive policies” support the “elimination of discrimination” and the “advancement of equality of opportunity”. The NSS has asked the council to set out its basis for these claims and to clarify whether it was aware of the mandatory hijab policy when it approved the school’s move to the state sector.
Although Barnet Council classified the proposal as a “key decision”, it was taken by an unelected officer without being considered by councillors.
NSS: ‘Schools must not enforce sexist religious modesty codes’
National Secular Society spokesperson Alejandro Sanchez said: “We welcome the education secretary’s confirmation that schools should not require hijab as part of their uniform policy.
“Her department must now ensure that no school is allowed to enforce sexist religious modesty codes. Women should be free to choose religious dress; young girls should not have it imposed upon them.”