The country’s best state primary school has called on the government to take a firm stand on hijabs and fasting among young Muslim children in classrooms, rather than leave schools to create their own rules.
St Stephen’s primary school in Upton Park, Newham, east London, which topped the Sunday Times Parent Power school league tables last year, has banned girls under eight years old from wearing the Islamic headscarf in school.
It has also told parents that children are not allowed to fast during the school day in the month of Ramadan, when many pupils may have to sit summer exams.
Arif Qawi, chairman of governors at St Stephen’s, said the Department for Education should “step up and take it out of our hands”. The school had to deal with a “backlash” from parents, especially after it outlawed fasting, a ritual that lasts about 18 hours a day in the summer, on school premises. [The Times (£)] Read more
