The National Assembly\u2019s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has directed the Ministry of Education to ensure the immediate return to school of a Grade 10 student at St Mary\u2019s Lwak Girls in Siaya County who was reportedly sent home for wearing a hijab.<\/p>\n
The matter was raised during a heated session of the committee after Garissa County Woman Representative Amina Udgoon Siyad, the PAC Vice Chairperson, flagged what she termed as religious discrimination against the Muslim learner, identified as Samira Ramadhan.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is an incident reported at St Mary\u2019s Lwak Girls in Siaya where a Muslim student who joined Grade 10 was refused permission to wear her hijab,\u201d Ms Siyad told the committee.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite being assured at the time of admission that she could wear it, Samira Ramadhan is now unable to continue with her studies. Efforts by her father to seek clarification from the school management have not been fruitful.\u201d<\/p>\n
The concerns sparked a constitutional debate among members, with Teso South MP Mary Emase citing Article 27 of the Constitution on equality and freedom from discrimination.<\/p>\n
\u201cArticle 27 is very clear. Every person is equal before the law and has the right to equal protection and equal benefit of the law,\u201d Ms Emase said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe State shall not discriminate directly or indirectly against any person on any ground, including religion. No person, not even a child, should be discriminated against because of her religion.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo, however, urged caution, noting that while the law was clear, the committee needed to establish the facts surrounding the incident.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe issue raised by the Vice Chair is serious. The law is clear; that is not in question. What is in question are the facts,\u201d Amollo said. \u201cIt is reasonable to allow the Principal Secretary time to investigate and provide a factual report. However, given the urgency of the matter, the girl cannot remain at home as we wait.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cLet us fast-track the establishment of facts and receive an urgent response on the measures taken. But the child must return to school.\u201d<\/p>\n
Butere MP Tindi Mwale, who chairs the committee took a firm stance, demanding the Basic Education Principal Secretary Julius Bitok to clarify the student\u2019s status.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Constitution is very clear. You do not discriminate according to religion,\u201d Mwale said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does the law say? Should we discriminate against hijab-wearing Muslim students? There is no need for that girl to be sent away.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked directly whether the student was in school, Bitok admitted she was not.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe girl was removed from the school,\u201d Bitok told the committee. \u201cI will ensure that the girl gets back to school as soon as possible, immediately, even as soon as today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mwale questioned why action had not been taken sooner.\u00a0 \u201cYou are seeking more time while the girl stays at home. That is not fair,\u201d he said. \u201cYou need to defend the Constitution. It is clear on freedom of worship. The girl is supposed to be allowed to go to that school.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bitok maintained that preliminary reports from the sub-county education office and the school presented differing accounts, necessitating further investigation.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, he affirmed that the ministry would act swiftly to safeguard the learner\u2019s rights.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe law is clear. There should be no discrimination whatsoever on matters of religion,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The post PAC orders immediate reinstatement of Muslim student barred over hijab<\/a> appeared first on KBC Digital<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The National Assembly\u2019s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has directed the Ministry of Education to ensure the immediate return to school of a Grade 10 student at St Mary\u2019s Lwak Girls in Siaya County who was reportedly sent home for wearing a hijab. The matter was raised during a heated session of the committee after Garissa […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-132289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132289\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}