BRITAIN:New guidelines empowering schools to ban pupils from wearing full-face veils on security, safety and learning grounds have drawn a mixed reaction from Muslim leaders in Britain.
Education secretary and Labour deputy leadership contender Alan Johnson issued the updated guidance in the light of last month's High Court ruling in which a 12-year-old girl lost her legal battle to wear the full-face niqab in class at her school in Buckinghamshire.
The new uniforms guidance stresses the importance of eye contact and says headteachers may impose the ban on learning, security or safety grounds.
The Department for Education and Skills said yesterday that headteachers had always been in a position to determine a school's uniform policy and that that remained the case.
The department said the government was not imposing a total ban on veils at schools. However, the guidance also says schools need to be able to identify individual pupils in order to maintain good order and spot intruders: "If a pupil's face is obscured for any reason the teacher may not be able to judge their engagement with learning or secure their participation in discussions and practical activities."
This is consistent with the court ruling for the Buckinghamshire school in last month's action, which argued that the veil made communication between teachers and pupils difficult, and that teachers needed to be able to tell if a pupil was enthusiastic, paying attention or even distressed and that the veil prevented this.
The headteacher of the Buckinghamshire school, which cannot be named for legal reasons, had said it would be useful to have clear guidance from the department, arguing that schools should not be left to argue the issue case by case.
The chairman of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, Massoud Shadjareh, said he was dismayed by the new guidance, and described it as "simply shocking".
"Successive ministers dealing with education issues have failed to give proper guidance when requested by human rights campaigners about schools' obligations regarding dress, including the head scarf," he said.
However Tahir Alam, spokesman for the Muslim Council of Great Britain, said the new guidance would not "alter the position very much" and that the majority of schools could resolve these issues locally.
Meanwhile Ayshah Ismael, a teacher at a Muslim girls' school in Preston, told the BBC that wearing the veil promoted equality: "You're judged for who you are and not what you are, so I think there are two arguments to the whole equality issue."
The new guidance requires schools to consult widely with parents, governors and local communities on uniform policy relating to religious dress.
Where possible they are encouraged to try to tolerate a wide range of religious and cultural items of clothing, while retaining the right to ban garments felt likely to impede safety, security or the ability to learn.