NO RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS, SAYS MINISTER

Mozambican Justice Minister Benvinda Levi has supported the decision by Education Minister Zeferino Martins to forbid the wearing of the islamic burqa in public schools.This became an issue because one student, Fatima Khalifa, insisted on wearing a burqa to her classes in the Fraternidade Secondary School in Pemba, capital of the northern province of Cabo Delgado. The teachers refused to teach classes containing a student shrouded in a garment that resembles a black tent with a narrow slit for her eyes, but Khalifa insisted that she was within her rights to wear a burqaThe dispute dragged on for weeks, until Martins visited Pemba and suspended Khalifa from the school. He told reporters that wearing overt religious clothing such as a burqa violated the fundamental principles governing state-run schools.He pointed out that, under the Mozambican constitution, the state and its institutions are secular. There is clear separation between the state and all forms of religion, which belong to the private sphere. The lay nature of the state meant that students could not wear burqas in state schools.Cited in Tuesday’s issue of the independent daily “O Pais”, Levi said that religious freedom means that citizens can freely practice the religion of their choice, without interference from the state – but it does not mean that they can impose that religion on the state.Students, she said, must respect school regulations. “It cannot be accepted that each student invokes the name of their religion in the loudest tones in the schools”, she said. She pointed out that burqas are a recent arrival in Mozambique. These all-enveloping black cloaks are completely unsuitable for the Mozambican climate – particularly for the heat and humidity of Pemba. According to the 2007 census, about 18 per cent of the Mozambican population are moslems. The vast majority of them do not wear burqas. Indeed, Fatima Ismail is the first student ever reported to have worn a burqa to school. “Our country has many people who profess this same religion”, said Levi, “but they don’t wear burqas in the schools where they study”.For schools, burqas raise awkward practical issues. They can be used to smuggle objects in and out of classes. And when only the eyes can be seen, it becomes difficult or impossible for teachers to identify the student under the cloak – this could facilitate academic fraud, by allowing somebody else to take the real student’s place in examinations without being spotted. Nonetheless, Fatima Ismail’s family have threatened to take the case to court, arguing that the Education Ministry has violated the constitution.