Madrid: President supports school's choice to ban headscarf

Madrid: President supports school's choice to ban headscarf

For more on this story see: Madrid: Girl expelled from school for wearing hijab

40% of the schools in Madrid ban the headscarf.  70% require that students be 'dressed with decorum'.  The regional education minister, Lucia Figar, said there have been other cases of girls who wanted to wear the headscarf, but that after talks with the family, they had agreed to take it off.

For the past few days, four of Najwa's Muslim fellow students have been coming to school with a hijab as a sign of support for her.  The four remove their headscarf when they enter the classroom. (ES)


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The president of the Comunidad de Madrid, Esperanza Aguirre, stated yesterday that the government "would under no circumstances" question the freedom of schools to implement their own rules, provided they "respected and supported" the regional executive's norms.


Aguirre was referring to yesterday's a vote by the school council at the Instituto Camilo José Cela de Pozuelo in Alarcón, which ratified the school's earlier decision not to allow pupils to wear headgear, including, in this case, the moslem veil.


The president did not make any specific reference to the controversial case in Alcorcón, but said "loud and clear" that the government "respects and supports the rules made by each and every school council", underlining that it was not the government's place to interfere in the running of an individual institution, provided it was being done within the norms laid down by the regional executive.


Aguirre made it clear that the Comunidad de Madrid give "autonomy" to schools and colleges in matters of internal rules and management decisions and that this autonomy then has to be respected by the government, as well as by the pupils, the staff and the parents at each individual centre.   In her opinion, this is the only way to "guarantee a happy environment and the success of the educational aims".


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Source: Think Spain (English)

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