Kerala: Management refuses to allow hijab; student to change school

Attempts to settle the hijab row suffered a setback with the management of the St Rita’s School in Palluruthy refusing to budge on the dress code and the father of the Class 8 student announcing that his daughter will change institutions.

The premature announcement of conciliation by Ernakulam MP Hibi Eden and the stubborn attitude of General Education Minister V Sivankutty seemingly derailed the peace process. Meanwhile, residents said disagreement between two communities over naming a road in the locality fuelled the standoff.

P M Anas, the girl’s father, told reporters that the family had decided to shift the child to another school. “My daughter said she could not return to the school as it would be difficult to face her teachers and friends after the incident that alienated her,” he said.

The school management stuck to its guns, saying it was ready to welcome the student if she was ready to comply with the institution’s rules and regulations.

“If the student is ready to follow the rules and regulations of the school, we are ready to welcome her with the same love and affection that we shared on the first day of admission. I cannot comment on the uniform dress code as it is under judicial purview.

Let the law take its course. We respect the court and the government. We realise that no educational institution can function without the cooperation of the education department. Please spread a culture of peace, love and harmony,” said school principal Heleena Alby.

Sivankutty said it was ironic that teachers who wear headscarves were insisting that students of the same institution could not wear a hijab.

“If a private school management thinks it can take over the powers of administration in the education sector, it cannot be permitted. If the student is forced to leave the school, people who are responsible will have to answer,” he warned.

“The school management and the PTA should have held talks with the student’s parents and resolved the issue without compromising on the uniform. The management can allow the child to wear a head scarf of the same colour and design. The authorities should initiate steps to ensure peace and harmony on campus,” he said.

Infuriated by Sivankutty’s headscarf jibe, the Catholic Congress accused him of humiliating the Christian community and the nuns.

“The minister shared the argument of some fundamentalists. He should apologise for humiliating the nuns. The chief minister should seek his resignation,” said Catholic Congress global director Fr Philip Kaviyil. He said a home department order from 2022 had prohibited hijab for student police cadets.

“In the order, the government said uniforms should ensure the dignity of the dress code of police force and are envisioned so that children can work towards gender justice and also towards non-racial and non-religious discrimination among themselves. It said combining religious matters with uniforms in the present situation would raise the same demands in other similarly functioning forces, which would question the discipline and secular survival of the forces,” he said.

The ‘road’ to rift

It seems a dispute over a road’s name drove a wedge between two communities, which in turn fuelled the hijab row. Ward member P R Rachana (CPM) said a few people led by the school’s PTA president Joshy Kaithavalappil had passed a resolution in the ward committee to change the name of a road in the locality to St Augustine Convent Road a year ago.

“After the name was changed, some residents protested against it. Since their documents mentioned the old name ‘Kalluchira Road’, the residents faced problems. Considering popular demand, the old name was restored, but it divided the communities. When the hijab row ignited, some community leaders came out in support of the parent,” she said.