The Kerala student who earlier sought permission to wear a hijab (head scarf) in class has decided to leave her current school, St. Pita’s Public School in Palluruthy, and move to another school. Her father, Anas Naina, said that people were trying to exploit the issue for political and communal gains and his daughter had reportedly suffered a mental breakdown over the past few days.
Kerala Education Minister V. Sivankutty said the school was answerable to the government regarding the circumstances surrounding the girl’s decision to change the school.
Response from school was “Painful”
Taking to social media platforms, Anas wrote that both the Kerala Government and the Education Department had responded positively to the hijab request but the response from the school authority was “painful.” He alleged that the response caused mental distress to both him and his daughter, as the intervention of the response was “communal”
“We request the school authorities, PTA, and other parties not to misuse our names or actions to disturb communal harmony in society,” he wrote.
The controversy started after, class 8 student wore school uniform for four months and then wore a hijab on October 7, earlier this month.
The Kerala government and Education Department reportedly said that expelling a student from class for wearing headscarf will be breach of the Right to Education Act.
“The government has intervened in the incident at St Rita’s Public School, Palluruthy, Ernakulam, where a class 8 girl was not allowed to enter her classroom because she wore a headscarf. Based on a complaint filed by the student’s father, the Ernakulam Deputy Director of Education conducted an inquiry and found serious lapses on the part of the school authorities,” Kerala Education Minister V Sivankutty said.
School Principal Sr Heleena rejected the inquiry report, labeling it as false, and referred to a 2018 Kerala High Court ruling that affirmed the autonomy of private schools in setting their own uniform policies.
