Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News, 2014-03-12

The management board of the Deutsche Internationale Schule Kapstadt (German International School Cape Town) has granted a Muslim learner permission to wear her headscarf as part of the school uniform.

The decision came about after some pressure from the Muslims Judicial Council (MJC) voiced their objection to the teenager being turned away from the independent school.

In a statement on Tuesday, the school said it has encouraged and guided a thorough discussion on the issue of allowing learners to wear religious clothing in school.

Principal Hermann Battenberg said school, parents, staff and learners, were included in the discussion and voiced their opinions freely. Battenberg said the exercise was “very unifying and rewarding” and they are especially proud of the maturity of their students who brought valid arguments to the debate.

Battenberg said they considered all viewpoints, and having listened to advice from a variety of sources, the Board then decided to amend the dress code to allow for exceptions to the school uniform “for bona fide religious or cultural reasons”.

“This decision brings the dress code of the school in line with the South African Constitution. It also enables the learner at the centre of this debate to return to the school to further her German education which she had started in her native Egypt,” he said.

“The Mulsim Judicial Council (MJC) has welcomed the decision by the German International School, which has overruled its previous dress code policy and has allowed a Muslim sister the right to attend school in hijab,” Spokesperson Nabeweya Malick told Radio Islam.

Malic said it was very encouraged by the fact that the decision was made by a collective body and it showed that the feelings of the learner were taken into consideration and included the overall view of the entire school body.

“Alhamdulillah this is once again a very positive move in South Africa where we see the constitution being implemented and favouring the rights of the children in our society,” added Malick.

Malick said what was of particular importance was that it will see amendments in the dress code of the school in order to cater for the needs of Muslim learners who require the wearing of hijab/headscarf. 

She said it was encouraging that young learners have embraced the concepts of the Constitution “by standing up in defense of a fellow learner” even though they have not experienced the marginalization and discriminatory effects of apartheid.  When the learner was first turned away from the school, other students objected by donning headscarves in solidarity with her plight.

“This is indeed encouraging and affirms that our nation is in good principled hands and that our constitution serves and protects the rights of our citizens,” said Malick.

“As South Africans we embrace all races, cultures, religious and linguistics societies with respect and understanding as we believe and our proud of our status as a rainbow nation living together with respect and harmony for all.” – VOC

(Twitter: @Faizie143)