Tongeren court overturns headscarf ban in schools
For the first time, a court has ruled against the Go! education network’s ban on the wearing of religious symbols at schools
Court cites European Treaty on Human Rights
All primary and secondary schools in Flanders fall into one of three main educational networks: the Go! Flemish Community network, the Cities, Municipalities and Provincial network and what is known as the Free network, which includes Catholic, Steiner and other schools oriented towards a certain theory or religion.
Within the latter two networks, there are multiple structures. Catholic Education Flanders, for instance, is the largest group within the Free network.
The government of Flanders has always allowed the networks to decide for themselves if they want to ban the wearing of headscarves. In turn, some networks allow individual schools to make the decision.
1,000 schools in Go! network
Policymaking around Muslim pupils wearing headscarves – along with Muslim women wearing headscarves at work – has been an ongoing debate in the region for many years. In 2013, the Go! network decide to ban the wearing of religious symbols in all of the 1,000 schools in its network. That includes headscarves.
Now the Tongeren court has ruled in favour of the parents who filed a complaint against the ban. “The court took into account provisions made in the European Treaty on Human Rights, which obliges all EU countries to allow its citizens to practice their religion in complete freedom,” a court spokesperson told VRT.
The ruling calls into question educational networks’ – and a school’s – right to decide whether pupils are allowed to wear religious symbols at school.
Photo: Dirk Waem/BELGA
