KOCHI: St. Rita’s Public School in Palluruthy, run by the Latin Catholic Church, has declared a two-day holiday following tensions over a student’s insistence on wearing a hijab, which the school does not permit.
The CBSE-affiliated institution announced that it would remain closed on Monday and Tuesday after a meeting of the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA) decided to suspend classes to ease tensions.
In a letter to parents dated October 12, Principal Sr. Heleena Alby said the school was declaring a holiday “following the mental stress caused by the situation and as teachers and non-teaching staff have taken leave.”
The letter did not specify the nature of the dispute but referred to a “student who came in attire not permitted by the school.”
According to sources, the disagreement arose after the student’s parents insisted that their daughter be allowed to wear a hijab. The principal, in her note, appealed for parents’ cooperation and reiterated the school’s commitment to “providing value-based education in accordance with the discipline and regulations of the institution.”
Speaking to a TV channel, Sr. Heleena said she had submitted a complaint to the Palluruthy police after the student’s father, along with about six others, created a scene on the school premises on Friday (October 10), demanding that the girl be allowed to wear the hijab. “Their approach was provocative and threatening in nature,” she said.
The incident comes amid growing unease between Christian and Muslim communities in parts of central Kerala.
In July last year, a similar issue at Nirmala College, Muvattupuzha, over demands for a prayer room had led to brief tension before religious leaders intervened.
The latest flashpoint follows renewed strain after the Kerala High Court last week ruled that land in Munambam, claimed by the Waqf Board but occupied by around 600 families, mostly the Latin Catholic community, was not ‘waqf’ land.