Hijabs have no place in a primary school

An independent Islamic school in London that forces young girls to wear hijabs is about to receive state funding. This news should alarm Britain. The decision makes a mockery of the hard-earned freedoms and liberties – particularly gender equality – that are woven into the British way of life.

Barnet Hill Academy, north London, will become a voluntary-aided primary school in September, after winning approval from the local council last month. When this happens, the school will be nearly entirely funded by taxpayers, even though it is imposing values on its pupils that the majority of the public would outright reject.

Barnet Hill Academy requires young girls to wear hijabs from the age of seven (year three) and above. Despite living in a country where women have the freedom to choose their attire, these young girls will instead have Islamic dress codes imposed on them in the name of upholding Islamic moral standards – standards that are profoundly discriminatory and inherently misogynistic.

We must be on guard against the spread of hardline Islam in British schools. I distinctly remember the case of the headmistress of St Stephen’s Primary in Newham in east London. In 2018, Neena Lall banned hijabs and fasting for pupils under eight. She received death threats and was labelled an 'evil racist' for doing so. Eventually, the hijab ban was reversed and Lall was forced into a humiliating apology.

Let’s be clear about the purpose of the veil. Islamic clergy argue that women and girls should wear hijabs and cover themselves to avoid attracting sexual attention from men. Generally, Islam asserts that women who do not wear hijabs are wholly responsible for being preyed on by men. Clearly, this is an alarming perspective when applied to seven-year-olds.

In Islam, children and young girls are not required to wear a hijab, burqa or niqab. Nevertheless, many girls are pressured into wearing these garments at a young age if they have the misfortune of belonging to a hardline or fundamentalist sect. The real question here is not what Islam says or doesn’t. The question is whether this is compatible with British values. Surely, we should all agree that pre-pubescent girls should not be required to express ‘sexual modesty’ by covering themselves.

There is also an issue with undue pressure. It is well-known that Muslim girls who want to dress and act like other girls in the West often face threats and harassment from within their communities. They are labelled as ‘Westernised’ or ‘disobedient’, and can even experience physical assault at the hands of their own family. Schools – particularly those receiving public funding – should not support the attitudes that in too many cases lead to this treatment.

What should concern us all is the way a piece of clothing – really, a tool of women’s oppression – has become a sacred symbol of multicultural Britain. Any discussion about banning hijabs for children is quickly branded as ‘racist’ and ‘Islamophobic’. This has proved to be a convenient way to silence concerns about the rights of Muslim women and girls.

It should go without saying that state-funded schools should be a means to unite children. It isn’t fair that the public should pay to support some parents’ preference for religious segregation. And it is patently wrong for the public to pay the fees of a school that is undermining the principle of gender equality.

We shouldn’t be complacent about this. Barnet Council must pause this decision and subject the proposal to thorough public and democratic scrutiny. Let children be children. There is nothing right about robbing little girls of their childhood.

Khadija Khan is a journalist and commentator, originally from Pakistan and now based in the UK.