CHILDREN should not be “forced” to wear the hijab as part of their school uniform, Bradford Council for Mosques has said after a report stated that the policy was being adopted in more than two in five Islamic schools.
The National Secular Society (NSS) found that girls in dozens of schools in England were being made to wear the garment, including two in Bradford, Feversham College in Undercliffe and Olive Secondary in Barkerend.
Both schools state on their websites that girls should wear the hijab or a headscarf as part of their official uniform policy.
NSS research found that out of 142 Islamic schools that accepted girls, 59, or 42 per cent, had uniform policies that suggested a headscarf or another form of hijab was compulsory. This included eight state-funded schools and 27 primary schools, three of which are state-funded.
Eighteen schools, 13 of which are state-funded, state in their online uniform policy that the hijab is optional. [Telegraph & Argus] Read more
