Czech Education Minister Marcel Chládek (Social Democrats, ČSSD) does not consider the wearing of Muslim scarves at school a problem, but they must not cover the whole face, he said in the Duel program on Prima TV today.
The Education Ministry is not preparing any central recommendation in this respect, he added.
“I think [Muslim girls] can go to school this way, and I do not regard it as a problem,” Chládek said about the wearing of Muslim scarves.
However, if the scarf covered the whole face, it might be qualified as a security risk, he added.
Muslim scarves became a hot issue after a Prague school banned a student from Somalia from wearing a scarf covering her head and neck during classes. The school argued that its rules ban all headgear.
The Somali girl and another Muslim female student from Afghanistan reportedly terminated their studies at the school prematurely over the ban last autumn.
The problem was narrowed to its religious aspect only, but the school principal did not ban the scarves due to the religion promotion, but she did so for safety reasons, Chládek said.
The Somali girl turned to Ombudsman Anna Šabatová. She concluded that the school had indirectly discriminated against the girl because the hijab was an outward manifestation of her religion.
Šabatová also criticized the Czech School Inspection for its “lax” assessment of the case.
Chládek dismissed Šabatová’s criticism of the inspection’s procedure.
“The Czech School Inspection acted in full compliance with law in this case. Unfortunately, the other side did not show good will to communicate,” Chládek said.
Neither the girls nor their families have reacted to the inspection’s call for two months, he added.