Student’s father writes to MLA: Asked to take off headscarf in class

“It was her first day back in school and her class teacher told her she is not allowed to wear a headscarf in school. She came back home and told my wife, who told me about it. I went to meet the school head the next day, who told me the government rules are for students to be in proper uniform. So I asked them to show me a government order or notification saying the scarf is not allowed, which they didn’t have,” he claimed. He said he went to Yunus’s office after that but since the MLA was not there, he submitted a complaint. He said he has not sent his daughter to school since then.

The school’s head Sushila Singh did not respond to calls or messages.

As of Wednesday evening, Yunus had not yet spoken to the father. “I was not in Delhi when he visited my office. I tried contacting him during the day but could not get through. I will meet the family tonight and try to find out exactly what has happened. The government schools here are not co-ed; all the students are girls, the teachers are ladies. This has been a longstanding practice and till date, there has been  no such complaint,” he said.

Sources in the education department said no formal complaint has been received: “In terms of practice, nothing has changed in the last fortnight or even the last few years. There is no government policy on this but in the area, girls come to school in their usual attire and take off their scarves in school as an accepted practice. Now, someone has taken an exception… There is no question of not allowing anyone into the school over this.”