Karnataka Supreme Court said religious clothing is not allowed in educational institutions
Bengaluru:
The annual exams are in Karnataka schools and while in the districts many students with hijab were unable to pass them, schools in Bengaluru have avoided controversy and focused on education. With or without a headscarf, the school authorities make sure that the students take the exam, pointing out that teaching is their reason d’être.
D Shashikumar, the general secretary of the Associated Managements of Primary and Secondary Schools in Karnataka, said that while some schools are following the order of the Karnataka Supreme Court to ban the hijab in educational institutions without any dispute, others allow students to take classes in hijab attend to avoid controversy.
“There is no greater dispute in Bengaluru. Some schools, yes, they have not accelerated this at the moment and they left the choice to the students and focused more on recovering from the loss of education rather than being politically motivated by the issue. This is a broader understanding of both the institution and the parents,” he said.
One of the schools in the city, the Goodwill Christian School and College, is a private educational institution and has more than 90 percent of its students from the Muslim community. But despite the Supreme Court order, there is no restriction on hijab in the school.
“Yes, I wear a hijab in my class. Nobody has stopped me from wearing the hijab. Wearing a hijab is our right. While we admit students, there are no written instructions that say no hijab,” said Samiya Fathima, a student of the school .
dr. Sujata Christopher, principal of Goodwills Girls Christian College, said their aim is to provide education, which is why she has allowed headscarves in classes.
“It’s a very peaceful atmosphere here. And the Muslim girls wear the burqa and hijab when they go to university and go to classes,” she said.
“We have a percentage of students who take off the burqa and continue to attend classes with hijab and there is also a percentage of Muslim girls who want to remove the hijab and attend classes,” added Dr Sujata Christopher.
But several schools, while allowing the use of hijab, vehemently denied this.
At Government First Grade College, where hijab use in classrooms has never been a problem, the principal vehemently denied it.
“The judiciary is revered most importantly. And everyone should follow what the Supreme Court has said. What the students have expressed is their opinion. But we don’t let any student in a hijab into the classroom,” said Rector Anand.
One student confirmed that despite the controversy, they were never asked to take off the hijab. Noor Aisha said that out of 50 students in her class, only three or four use hijab, including her. “I’ve been wearing the hijab for the past year. There have been no problems. Even during the controversy, the principal never asked us to remove it. So we have a mix of students with and without hijabs,” she said.
Karnataka’s Supreme Court has reserved its verdict on the hijab ban. But the order that headscarves or religious clothing are not allowed in educational institutions, meanwhile, has greatly disrupted education for some students.
“At this point, we should have been in our labs attending the labs, not forced to leave. The hopes I had in college and my dreams are shattered by the hatred of hijab,” one student tweeted. .
Today was our last practical exam!
We had filled in our record books and went to the practical exam in good spirits.
It was so disheartening when our director threatened to tell us “You have 5 minutes to leave, if you don’t leave I will file a complaint with the police”
— Almas (@Ah_Almas12) February 28, 2022
“Today was our last practical exam! We had completed our record books and went in high hopes to attend the practical exam. It was so disheartening when our principal threatened to tell us, ‘You have 5 minutes to leave, if you don’t leave, I will report to the police,” read another tweet from the student from Udupi, the ground zero of the hijab row.
