School inspectors in England have been told to question Muslim primary school girls if they are wearing a hijab or similar headscarf, the head of Ofsted has announced.
Amanda Spielman, the head of Ofsted and chief inspector of schools, said the move was to tackle situations in which wearing a hijab “could be interpreted as sexualisation” of girls as young as four or five, when most Islamic teaching requires headdress for girls only at the onset of puberty.
“We would urge any parent or member of the public who has a concern about fundamentalist groups influencing school policy, or breaching equality law to make a complaint to the school. If schools do not act on these complaints they can be made to Ofsted directly.”
The announcement is the latest of a string of requirements issued in the wake of the “Trojan horse” affair that erupted in Birmingham in 2014, which provoked controversy over fears of Islamist influence in state schools.
Recently Al-Hijrah school, a state Islamic faith school in Birmingham, was the subject of a long legal battle after being classed as inadequate by Ofsted for maintaining strict segregation between boys and girls.
The Muslim Council of Britain secretary-general, Harun Khan, responded to the move saying: “It is deeply worrying that Ofsted has announced it will be specifically targeting and quizzing young Muslim girls who choose to wear the headscarf.
“The many British Muslims who choose to wear the headscarf have done extremely well in education and are breaking glass ceilings. It is disappointing that this is becoming policy without even engaging with a diverse set of mainstream Muslim voices on the topic,” he added.
It is absurd and prejudiced to suggest that hijab ‘sexualises’ girls
Will Ofsted now extend primary school inspections so that they cover questions about skullcaps and turbans as well as female headgear, asks Dr Sana Ramiz
‘As a Muslim mother, I do not believe … that my daughters should wear hijab before they are young women. Yet, in an attempt to copy my mother, I stubbornly wore hijab as a young girl against the wish of my parents,’ writes Dr Sana Ramiz. Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
As a Muslim mother, I do not believe, according to Islamic jurisprudence, that my daughters should wear hijab before they are young women and I will never coerce them to wear hijab at any stage. Yet, in an attempt to copy my mother, I stubbornly wore hijab as a young girl against the wish of my parents then. So, I would like to ask Amanda Spielman, will Ofsted inspectors be “questioning” young girls copying their mothers, whether by wearing hijab, lipstick or stilettos?
The argument that hijab, as a religious headgear, “sexualises” girls is flawed. If it does then it also “sexualises” women. Many Muslim women view hijab as an article of faith and modesty that liberates them from objectifying societal expectations, and this is what I will teach my daughters.
Amanda Spielman is arguing that a certain garment sexualises girls. If so, will Ms Spielman be extending this “inspection” to cover other items of clothing? Do short skirts sexualise girls more than trousers? What about girls’ weather-exposed shoes compared to well-padded boys’ shoes? Will Ms Spielman focus only on girls, or are boys wearing skullcaps and turbans bound to be “sexualised” too?
Shockingly, the NSPCC reported that 31% of women in the UK experienced sexual abuse in childhood. Ofsted needs to get its priorities right instead of targeting a minority Muslim population and excluding the voice of Muslim parents.
Source: The Guardian
