MINISTER OF State for Integration Conor Lenihan has written to the principals of 4,000 primary and secondary schools in the State to seek their views on the wearing of the Islamic hijab headscarf by pupils.
Mr Lenihan was asked by Minister for Education Batt O’Keeffe to examine whether national guidelines were required on the wearing of “certain types of clothing for religious reasons at school”.
He is expected to make his recommendations by the end of this month or in early August.
In his letter dated June 17th, which has been seen by The Irish Times, Mr Lenihan states: “The department, up to now, has accepted that the situation did not require the development of national guidelines on this specific issue. There have, however, been requests from some quarters for the development of such guidelines, and these requests have prompted this examination.”
He continues: “I have also decided to write to the principals of primary and post-primary schools because principals are the people who have dealt and deal with these kinds of issues on a daily basis, and I am anxious to canvass your views on whether there is a need for national guidelines on this matter and to hear of any difficulties which have had to be dealt with.”
In his letter, Mr Lenihan expresses his thanks “for the professional way in which the education system has delivered education to foreign children, especially given the remarkable increase in the number of such children enrolled over the past number of years”.
An Irish Times/TNS mrbi opinion poll carried out at the beginning of last month found that 48 per cent of respondents agreed with allowing Muslim pupils to wear the hijab in State schools, with 39 per cent opposed.
A spokesman for Mr Lenihan said yesterday that some 350 responses had already been received either by post or e-mail.
“Some say there should be national guidelines and others say there is no need for them,” the spokesman added.
He said none of the responses received so far were in favour of a ban on the hijab at school, as favoured by Opposition spokesmen.
“No one from the schools says ‘ban it’.”
However, some principals had asked pupils to wear a headscarf that conformed with the school uniform, ie the same colour.
He said Mr Lenihan was holding a series of meetings with interested groups, including representatives of the Muslim community, which would conclude by the middle of next week.
The spokesman said the “general view” in replies to Mr Lenihan was against permitting pupils to wear clothing which completely concealed their faces.
