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Issue 178, Friday 27 February 2004 - 6 Muharram 1425

Muslim pupil fights religious dress ban

By Elham Asaad Buaras

Shabina Begum, 15, is taking Luton’s Local Education Authority (LEA) to court claiming a ban on her wearing full Muslim dress has effectively excluded her from school. Begum has not been to school since September 2002 arguing that wearing the ankle-length dress was as important to her as praying. Denbigh High School has banned the outfit, as they say, it contravenes uniform rules. Begum’s lawyers say the LEA has failed to provide her with an education, a claim denied by both the School and the LEA.
The case is likely to go to the High Court in London, where lawyers will seek a judicial review, alleging the school has unlawfully excluded her.
The Children’s Legal Centre at the University of Essex is undertaking Begum’s case. The Centre is arguing that the School’s policy breaches the European Convention on Human Rights. Casting doubts on the power of a potential anti-religious discrimination law a spokesperson for the Centre told The Muslim News, “They (the School and LEA) have already violated Race Discrimination laws. So their probability of them adhering to anti-religious laws are low.”
Begum said she wanted continue with her education. “I sometimes just sit down and think, ‘What am I going to do in the future?’” she told The Muslim News. “Am I going to live on benefits or something? Am I going to get a life? I’m not going to be able to go into further education as I had planned to. I planned to become a doctor because I like science a lot, but now I just think there’s no future in me.”
In a statement to The Muslim News, Luton LEA said, “There is no question of the pupil needing to be reinstated in the school or of her having been excluded. The pupil has at all times been provided with a place at the school, which she has, on numerous occasions, been invited and encouraged to attend. It is the pupil who has chosen to absent herself. The Education Welfare Service, has, in trying to resolve the problem, invited the pupil’s family to consider the pupil attending another school if the provision of a place at her existing school is unsatisfactory. Such avenues have not yet been fully considered by the family.”
Shabina Begum rejected the LEA’s statement saying, “They gave me no option but to leave. They said I could only return when I took off the jilbab (the ankle length dress), even though there is a teacher that wears the jilbab. ”
Begum’s brother, Shuayb Rehman, told The Muslim News that the Education Welfare Services were “threatening” rather than helpful, “They threatened our mum with a law suite for not sending her daughter to school but they offered us only two alternative schools, one was full whilst the other was too far from the house.”
Denbigh School, Assistant Principal, Stuart Moore, denied Begum was excluded. He said she had taken the decision to be absent. He said, “It’s very sad that she’s taken the decision to absent herself from the school.” Adding, “There are issues about this style of dress – there’s concern about its length and health and safety issues. We also have issues of where to draw a line in terms of uniform.”
The argument of health and safety was dismissed by Rehman who said, “When the hijab (headscarf) was first worn in Britain the health and safety card was played. They said then that the headscarves would burn from Bunsen burners in the science labs. That didn’t happen, and you also have to take into account that lot of teachers wear the ankle-length skirts, why aren’t they asked to change?”
“I feel I am being victimised, even though other Muslim girls wear trousers and knee-length skirts I feel naked without my jilbab. The ban is even extended to after-school classes but I saw students wearing their PE kits in after-school classes. It seems only my jilbab causes offence. I am under no doubt that they’re targeting me on the basis of my religion, their uniform policy is Islamophobic,” said Begum bitterly.
Despite the LEA and the School’s claims of “bending over backwards in their attempts to resolve the matter”, the family insist the negotiations have been one sided, describing the school governors as “arrogant”. Rehman said, “Shabina was willing to wear the school jumper over her jilbab but they quickly dismissed that suggestion and she was told “take the jilbab off and then you’ll be allowed through the gates” knowing full well how she felt about her religious clothes. So they did exclude her.”