A Catholic-run school in the southern Philippines has caused an uproar by banning students from wearing the hijab. The school is thought to be the first in the Philippines to enforce an outright ban on wearing the hijab.
The head of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos, said he had written to Pilar College in the port city of Zamboanga to demand a reversal of policy. Mehol Sadain said, "Pilar College should realise that while educational institutions can formulate their own policies, the same should not run counter to existing laws and state policies."
Sadain pointed out an education department policy stating that Muslim girls should be allowed to wear their head coverings in school and be exempted from non-Muslim religious rites.
But the school said in its letter to the council that it would not "deviate" from its Catholic principles, and said students from other religions were welcome but must strictly follow its non-hijab policy. |
