SUPKEM national organizing secretary Abdullahi Salat addressing the press in Garissa town. He said Muslim students are still being harassed for wearing hijab. [Photo|the-star.co.ke]
The Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (Supkem) has asked the Ministry of Education to address the issue of Muslim students wearing hijab.
Supkem organising secretary Abdullahi Salat said Muslim students are still being harassed for wearing hijab despite a court ruling allowing the students to wear hijab.
Salat said it is unacceptable to send away students from schools because of their religious dress code.
According to Mr Salat, school boards lack proper representation of Muslim faithful, hence lack people to advise them on the issue.
He demanded that the schools involved in discriminating against the Muslim students to address the matter from January, failure to which Supkem will shame them.
St Paul Kiwanchani, a school under the sponsorship of the Methodist Church in Isiolo, successfully petitioned the High Court to ban Muslim girls from wearing the hijab.
“No child should be denied the right to education on the basis of religion. This amounts to discrimination and, as Muslim leaders, we will not keep quiet,” said the secretary.
In 2016, the court of appeal ruled that Muslim female students will be allowed to go to school with hijabs as part of the school uniform.
The court directed that the Education Cabinet Secretary to ensure new rules on school uniform are made and should not discriminate students based on their religion.
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