Muslim schoolgirls will be quizzed on why they choose to wear a hijab, Ofsted chief says

Youngsters will be quizzed on why they choose to wear hijabs
AFP/Getty Images
Fiona Simpson19 November 2017

Muslim schoolgirls will be quizzed on why they choose to wear a hijab, the head of Ofsted has said.

Amanda Spielman, the watchdog's chief inspector, said making it obligatory for Muslim children to wear a headscarf in primary schools could be seen as sexualising young girls, with the hijab and other coverings worn as a symbol of modesty.

The move comes after she met campaigners from the Social Action and Research Foundation on Friday.

But the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) said the policy of questioning young girls was "deeply worrying" and "wrong-headed".

Research by the National Secular Society in September suggested some 59 of 142 (42 per cent) Islamic schools, including 27 primary schools, in England have a uniform policy which states a head-covering is compulsory.

Ms Spielman said: "While respecting parents' choice to bring up their children according to their cultural norms, creating an environment where primary school children are expected to wear the hijab could be interpreted as sexualisation of young girls.

"In seeking to address these concerns, and in line with our current practice in terms of assessing whether the school promotes equality for their children, inspectors will talk to girls who wear such garments to ascertain why they do so in the school.

"We would urge any parent or member of the public who has a concern about fundamentalist groups influencing school policy, or breaching equality law to make a complaint to the school. If schools do not act on these complaints they can be made to Ofsted directly."

But MCB Secretary General Harun Khan said: "It is deeply worrying that Ofsted has announced it will be specifically targeting and quizzing young Muslim girls who choose to wear the headscarf.

"It sends a clear message to all British women who adopt this that they are second-class citizens, that while they are free to wear the headscarf, the establishment would prefer that they do not.

"The many British Muslims who choose to wear the headscarf have done extremely well in education and are breaking glass ceilings.

"It is disappointing that this is becoming policy without even engaging with a diverse set of mainstream Muslim voices on the topic."

Mr Khan said the approach risked being "counter-productive" to Ofsted's pledge to uphold what Ms Spielman called British values and urged her to reverse the decision.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT