By Aditi KhannaLondon, Jan 14 (PTI) One of the UK's leading state-fundedschools has called on the government to take a firm stand onchildren wearing hijab and fasting during Ramadan.
St Stephen's School in Newham, east London, became one ofthe first schools in the country to ban the hijab for girlsunder eight in 2016 and intends to ban it for girls under 11from September 2018.
It also imposed strict rules on Ramadan fasting, a ritualthat lasts around 18 hours a day in the summer, on schoolpremises.
The school, with a majority of pupils from Indian,Pakistani or Bangladeshi backgrounds and headed by Indian-origin principal Neena Lall wants the UK government to issueclear guidelines on the issue to prevent a backlash fromparents.
"The department should step up and take it out of ourhands and tell every school this is how it (fasting) shouldbe. The same for the hijab, it should not be our decision. Itis unfair to teachers and very unfair to governors. We areunpaid. Why should we get the backlash,” Arif Qawi, chairmanof governors at St Stephen's School, told The Sunday Times'.
He said that despite criticism from a few families, someparents were happy with the school's stance on fasting.
"We did not ban fasting altogether but we encouraged them(children) to fast on holidays, at weekends and not on theschool campus. Here we are responsible for their health andsafety if they pass out on campus. It is not fair to us," saidQawi, who consulted with Muslim clerics to confirm thatfasting should begin from the age of puberty.
Under the UK's Department for Education guidelines,uniform policy is a matter for individual head-teachers andtheir governing bodies.
"It is a matter for individual schools to decide how toaccommodate children observing Ramadan, and to set uniformpolicies. We issue clear guidance on uniform and to helpschools understand their legal duties under the Equality Act,”a Department for Education statement said.
In November 2017, St Stephen's School had topped aprestigious primary schools league table published by ‘TheSunday Times’ annually.
It was listed as the best school in England in the'Schools Guide 2018' for a strong teaching record.
"Everything we do here comes from our vision that everySt StephenÂ’s child blossoms into a confident, respectful,modern British citizen prepared to be an aspirationalcontributor in the global community," Lall had said at thetime. PTI AKPMS.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.