Osun clarifies stand on the use of Hijab in public schools

The female Muslim students in government-owned schools can now wear the Hijab on their school uniforms without any intimidation, said the Coordinating Director, Osun State Ministry of Education, Mrs C. K. Olaniyan.

The approval was contained in a circular the Coordinating Director issued early this week, which was also directed to the Tutor Generals, Executive Secretary of Osun State Basic Education Board, Zonal Inspectors and Principals of Schools in the State.

Mrs Olaniyan stated that the issue of Hijab in the State is a matter of judicial pronouncement and any violation would be considered a contempt of the law court.

Muslim News findings revealed that the imbroglio over the use of Hijab in the State of Osun started on June 3, 2016 when Justice Jide Falola of the State High Court upheld the use of Hijab in Public Primary and Secondary Schools.

Following the verdict which was welcomed by the Muslim community, the Osun State chapter of the Christian body known as OS-CAN didn’t approach the appeal court for redress, instead threatened to make the state ungovernable for the then Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, who the body accused of masterminding the judgment as part of his plans to ‘Islamise’ the State.

True to their threat, many media outlets including The Punch newspapers of June 9, 2016 reported that fresh crisis was brewing in Osun state schools over the right to use the Hijab as CAN ordered Christian pupils to wear garments associated with church activities to schools if Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola decided to implement the court verdict.

The court verdict has not been implemented since then until early this week when the circular permitting the use of the Hijab in government-owned schools came to the public domain, warning principals and their teachers against flouting the directive.

According to Mrs Olaniyan, “The use of moderate/medium sized hijab by female Muslim Students (not below the navel) shall be allowed in all Public Schools with a condition that it shall not be made compulsory for any student especially for non-Muslims in such schools. A uniformed colour of the school uniform shall be chosen by the school authorities.

“Please be reminded that the issue of hijab is stemmed out of judicial decisions and any contravention shall be termed as contempt of court ruling, as the court decision has been gazetted by the State Government.

“In addition to the existing rules and regulations earlier forwarded to you, and for the sake of emphasis, all schools in the state shall operate in such a manner as to promote the secular nature of the State,” it added.