The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has welcomed reports that the Minister for Education and Science and the Minister for Integration Policy have jointly agreed recommendations on school uniform policy, including the wearing of the hijab.
The rights watchdog has, however, expressed disappointment that it would appear that the Ministers intend to abrogate their own responsibilities to ensure that education is provided in a non-discriminatory way, by leaving the decision-making onus on school principals.
ICCL Director Mr. Mark Kelly said today:
“This would appear to be a policy not to have a policy. Thanks to the good sense of school principals, reason has prevailed and no child has been excluded from school on the basis of their religious dress. However, there is a responsibility on the State to ensure that decisions on such a sensitive issue are taken on a firm lawful basis, and in a consistent way.”
“We need to bear in mind that our existing equality laws permit discrimination in order to maintain the religious “ethos” of a school. In the absence of a nationally-agreed and enforceable policy, there remains a danger that individual principals could interpret this to permit them to exclude a child for wearing religious dress, such as the hijab. The Ministers should live up to their responsibility to close this loophole” he added.