After a general headscarf ban at the “Anne Frank School” in Dusseldorf immigrant groups have reacted with outrage. In a letter to parents about the new school formalities for the next year headteacher Bernd Hinke informs that wearing headgear of any sort – as well as the use of MP3 players and mobile phones – during classes is prohibited.
“This applies equally to the wearing of headscarves for religious reasons. We live in a country that is oriented in Christian and democratic values”, writes the headteacher in this letter.
“This man knows not what he’s doing”, disgusted Muhammat Balaban of the “National Association of migrants’ municipal representation” (Laga), according to the “Cologne Express”. Muhammat Balaban continues: “This is discrimination. A superintendent should make school policy, not missionize.” Hinke justified the ban by the incompatibility with the values that the school wants to convey: “The headscarf is considered in our opinion as a symbol of oppression of women and lack of equality.”
Balaban on the other hand can not identify any suppression by wearing a headscarf: “From puberty on everyone stands before God on his own responsibility. The girls decide themselves how they dress.” A spokesman of the CDU-led education ministry in North Rhine-Westphalia announced an investigation of the House Rules of the “Anne Frank School” according to the “Cologne Express”. The spokesman said: “It is certain that an absolute ban on headscarves for girls contradicts the principles of the Constitution and the school law.”
