Britain: Muslim mother launches legal action against school for not allowing face veil
Rachid Serroukh said the school was discriminatory against her for wearing a veil. Photo:The Gurdian
(Web Desk) - A Muslim mother has initiated a legal action against her daughter’s school after she was told face veil was not allowed in the institution’s premises.
According to The Guardian, Rachida Serroukh, a 37-year-old single mother of three daughters, was asked to leave while she was attending an evening for parents of new pupils at the school on June 13. The mother was approached by one of the school staff members, who took her into a room and told her face veils, were not allowed inside the school.
She was delighted when her daughter was accepted at Holland Park School, in London, also known as “socialist Eton,” known for children hailing from high profile families being enrolled there. “Education is very important to me and I want to ensure that all my children get a good education,” she said.
Serroukh, a devoted Muslim has been wearing veil for the past 14 years, she launched the case against the school after she was told the school does not allow face veil and is against its policy.
“I was already feeling uncomfortable because I had to leave my daughter standing on her own,” said Serroukh. “As the teacher was female, I lifted my veil when we were talking together in the room.” She had already been surprised, she added, that at the welcome event for about 200 parents – including five or six who were identifiably Muslim – the head teacher said in his speech that the school was secular and did not offer prayer rooms,” although it showed video footage of the school choir singing in a church”.
The mother explains how at first she misunderstood and thought the teacher was talking about her daughter when she spoke of the school policy against veils, “I explained clearly that my daughter wears a headscarf and would not be coming to school in a face veil. Then I realised she was talking about me not my daughter.”
Serroukh enquired several times to see if the school had strict policy against visitors visiting the school wearing a face veil. “I had had no problem from security at the school gate when I entered the school and nobody there had mentioned a policy. I always lift my veil and show my photo ID when required to do so for security purposes,” she said. “I didn’t want to challenge the teacher until I had seen the policy.”
The teacher asked Sherroukh to leave the school through the back exit, but she refused, and explained that she cannot leave her daughter behind. She insisted that she would like to leave from the same door she had arrived- the school’s front entrance.
“I was very shaken and was in a state of shock about what had happened,” she said. “I had never experienced anything like this before. I have experienced name calling in the street from strangers about my veil but nothing like this had ever happened before. When I got home, I just broke down.”
She wrote an email to the school for clarification and to explain the reasons to why she was discriminated. In response to her email, the deputy head Ross Wilson wrote to Serroukh on June 21, stating that the school has no written policy against banning visitors wearing a face veil.
“It has not been necessary to date for the school to have this requirement stated in written policy,” wrote Wilson. “Given the concerns you have raised, we are now considering a written amendment to our health and safety policy to include this specific requirement and will follow the normal protocol of seeking the approval of the governing body.”
Replying on July 12, Serroukh wrote: “How are you able to justify banning the face veil for all which come onto school grounds? I had shown my face prior to coming onto school grounds therefore security cannot have been a cause for concern.”
The following day, Wilson said it was a health and safety issue to be able to identify all of those on the school site, adding: “We would wish to reiterate that no offence was intended… it was the school’s intention to provide clarity and transparency.”
Serroukh stated that what happened to her at Holland Park was discrimination and that she hopes it is resolved amicably.
Attiq Malik of Liberty Law Solicitors, who’s handling Serroukh’s case, said that the case is a “straightforward” test case of discrimination on the grounds of religion. “The government constantly talks about British values. To me, those values include diversity and multiculturalism. If a school in London is doing this, what might be happening elsewhere?”