The consequences of a Croydon primary 'hijab' ban

In January 2013 St Cyprians Greek Orthodox primary school, situated in Thornton Heath was being pursued to the high court by a Muslim family due to a religious affiliated case. The parents of a nine year old female attendee of the Greek Orthodox Primary aimed to sue the school for not allowing their daughter to wear her traditional Islamic hijab in class. The parents of the child believed that her religious freedom was being breeched through the school’s uniform policy against wearing a hijab (a traditional Islamic head scarf which represents the principle of modesty). Due to the couple’s adamant Muslim beliefs they perceived it a sin for their daughter to have her head uncovered in the presence of male teachers, due to her starting puberty. The school governors made the decision for the prohibiting of the hijab due to the strict uniform plan- that is issued to the parents of all the pupils upon entrance in to the school. The parents of the girl pulled her out of the specialist Greek primary school (the only one of its kind in the entire country) in an attempt to remove this ban upon the high court’s ruling. The child at the centre of this legal case attended St. Cyprians for two years until her parents were appalled at the school’s head covering uniform policies. Primarily, the family culminated a complaint to the school’s governors after hear of the hijab ban, the governors declined to eradicate the ban so subsequently the parents of the young girl removed her from the school and applied for a legal challenge with the high court.