A petition calling for an end to an East Ham school’s ban on hijabs and fasting has got 8,000 signatures in two days.
There has been a strong backlash against the school’s bold stance on the issue.
In a Sunday Times article this weekend, the school’s headteacher Neena Lall told the newspaper the changes had been made to help integrate children into British society.
“Freedom of expression is a must regardless of age,” it says on the petition’s webpage, which was started by Hafsah Dabiri.
“The hijab represents a choice and to remove it is the very oppression which actors claim to prevent,” it adds.