Text 11266, 90 rader
Skriven 2005-04-09 07:41:40 av Stephen Hayes (5:7106/20.0)
Ärende: Religious symbols in schools
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* Forwarded (from: SAFRICAN-CULTURE) by Stephen Hayes using timEd/2 1.10.y2k.
* Originally from Steve Hayes (8:8/2003) to All.
* Original dated: Fri Apr 08, 11:46

From: Steve Hayes <hayesmstw@hotmail.com>

WILL BEARDS SOON FLOWER IN OUR CLASSROOMS?

by Angela Quintal

Schoolboys may be allowed to grow beards if proposed national guidelines on
school uniforms are introduced later this year, Parliament was told yesterday.

Schools in this country may not stop pupils wearing yarmulkes, headscarves of
crosses in line with a pupil's religious practice. But the jury is still out on
beards.

Presenting the Education Department's proposed guidelines yesterday, deputy
director-general Dr Cassius Lubisi said schools had to accommodate pupils'
beliefs and practices in line with the Constitution.

"This is largely to prevent a situation similar to the one in France last year,
where you can't wear a yarmulke, headscarf, or even a cross, or anything like
that," he told the National Assembly's education committee.

"We are saying in this country that we should guard against schools banning
religious insignia."

There have been isolated incidents in South Africa of schools barring Muslim
pupils from wearing a headscarf on the basis that these were not part of the
uniform. However ANC MP Ismail Vadi raised the issue of the tug-of-war in some
schools where pupils wished to wear a beard on religious grounds.

Last year there were reports of Muslim pupils being told to leave an exam until
they had shaved. Lubisi acknowledged that the national guidelines limited the
definition of school uniform to clothes and did not deal with a pupil's
appearance.

"We know of several incidents in KwaZulu-Natal where children were thrown out
of school because they were wearing beards because of religious observance. We
think you cannot throw children out of school on this basis. They are not in
defiance of anyone."

Lubisi said the department had not explored the issue of beards as part of the
guidelines, but it would do so, and would also consult its legal advisers on
this issue.

DA MP George Boinamo urged the department to come up with a clear policy and to
look at the wider implications if it allowed beards. Nothing that "what is good
for the goose is good for the gander", he warned that if religious identity was
allowed to become part of the school uniform, "Rastafarians will be able to
wear long hair and smoke dagga."

Committee chairman and ANC MP Professor Shepherd Mayatula cautioned MPs not to
be dogmatic and said the Rastafarian issue had in any event been resolved by
the Constitutional Court (he was referring to the ruling against aspirant
attorney Gareth Prins who had argued that his religion obliged him to smoke the
"holy weed").

DA MP Helen Zille said she supported the national guidelines, but said a
distinction needed to be drawn between "clothing on their bodies and other
practices".

"We must confine it (the committee's discussion on the guidelines) to what
people are wearing. I would not like to extend that to beards, long hair,
smoking or other religious practices."

Lubisi also said "the other side of the religious coin should be considered,
and that schools should not decide on a uniform on the basis of religious
identity.

"If the majority of parents in schools are Christian, they can't decide that we
will wear T-shirts with a cross as this would be discriminatory towards
non-Christians in the school," Lubisi said.

The department has called for public comment on the national guidelines. The
closing date for submissions is May 31.

[ Pretoria News, 6 April 2005 ]

--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/stevesig.htm
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk

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