Thousands of state primary schools are allowing girls as young as five to wear the Muslim religious headscarf as part of approved school uniform, a Sunday Times survey has revealed.
The rise of the classroom hijab has alarmed female Muslim campaigners, church leaders and academics. They say it is divisive, sexualises young girls because it is traditionally not worn until puberty, and should be “fiercely resisted”.
Ofsted, the schools watchdog, said there was “growing concern” about the trend. Inspectors are investigating whether head teachers have come under pressure from parents or religious leaders to change uniform regulations.
A senior Ofsted source said: “While it is for schools to determine their uniform rules in accordance with the law, there is growing concern about the hijab appearing in a primary school uniform list. We are looking at whether there is evidence that schools are facing external pressure to adapt their policies.”
The Sunday Times survey showed nearly a fifth (18%) of 800 primary schools — including Church of England primaries — surveyed in 11 regions of England now list the hijab as part of their uniform policy. Across England’s 17,000 primary schools the figure is likely to run into thousands.
In Birmingham 46% of 72 primary schools whose websites were checked by The Sunday Times included the hijab in their written online uniform policy. In Tower Hamlets 34% of 68 primaries had an online headscarf policy and in Luton the figure was 36%.
But in other areas with large Muslim communities the practice has not taken hold. Only 6% of 77 primary schools surveyed in Leicester included the hijab in the online list of approved items, and in Manchester 8 out of 133 schools did so (6%). The proportion was the same for 50 primaries in Blackburn.
In six of the 11 areas surveyed, some Church of England primaries also allowed the hijab within their uniform policy on their websites. Most schools list it as an optional item.
Campaigners want the government to issue guidance making it clear the hijab has no place in primary schools and for inspectors to report on those that allow it.
Gina Khan, a children’s rights campaigner in Birmingham, said: “Schools are allowing it because they are afraid of being called Islamophobic and they have been told that this is a religious garment — but they need to support Muslim girls to have free choices, not to be set apart from other children.”
Amina Lone, a Muslim former Labour parliamentary candidate, said: “In an Islamic context, the hijab is commonly understood as being for females after they reach the age of puberty. There are very few Muslims who would say a child should be covered.”
Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, said the formalisation of the wearing of the headscarf for young girls in primary schools should be “fiercely resisted”.
He added: “Personally, I am against the wearing of hijabs altogether. I believe we are in a secular western country largely influenced by the Christian faith.”
Michael Nazir-Ali, former Bishop of Rochester, said: “I see no necessity to have a hijab listed within a school uniform policy. If there are difficulties, they can be negotiated on a case-by-case basis between parents and schools. By including it in a policy, parents may come under pressure from religious leaders — who might say you are not a good Muslim if you do not do it.”
But Toby Howarth, the Bishop of Bradford, said young girls often wanted to “look like their mums” and that the inclusion of the hijab was appropriate even within the uniform policy of a Church of England primary.
“The British policy is not to make too big a deal of it, but simply to say you have to wear the right colour,” he said. “This is a matter of religious identity not sexualisation.”
The former education secretary Nicky Morgan said it was important not to get “too hung up” about school uniforms: “Hijabs in primary school is a debate for the Muslim community to have. Is it required by the Koran?”
The Department for Education said uniform policies were for schools to decide, adding: “If a school decided to allow a pupil to wear a burqa, that would be up to the school.”