St John’s College has been accused of discriminating
against students on racial and religious grounds after a Muslim pupil was
barred from attending lessons for refusing to shave his beard.
The school administrators, who have instructed security
officers to block the pupil from the school premises, argued that his beard
violated the school’s dress code.
This comes after the school torched another storm recently
when former deputy head (Sixth Form), Dr Neal Hovelmeier, declared he was gay
during school assembly, sparking a public outcry.
Dr Hovelmeier subsequently resigned from the school
following a sustained campaign by parents who found the public announcement of
his sexual preferences uncalled for and mischievous.
According to the father of the barred student (name
withheld) his son, a Lower 6 learner, had been sent home a number of times “to
shave off his beard and to abide by the school rules”.
The pupil keeps a full beard as part of his religion. The barring of the students is despite previous court
decisions ordering schools to reinstate students who had challenged
“discriminatory and unconstitutional” conduct by the authorities.
In an interview, Primary and Secondary Education Minister
Professor Paul Mavima said the matter needed both parties to sit down and map a
way forward.
“This is an issue between the school and the parent,” he
said. “The parent needs to sit down with the leadership of the school and work
out an arrangement. All learners are supposed to abide by the school rules.”
St John’s College deputy headmaster Mr Andrew Sakala
refused to comment over the phone.
“You need to come to the school and we discuss the matter,”
he said. “This is not something I will discuss over the phone.”
The parent expressed anger towards the treatment of his son
by the school.
“The boy is traumatised and is being humiliated by being
kicked out of school,” he said. “What hurts me the most is he has been at the
school since Form 1. He is in the soccer team and his desire is to be a priest
and serve the Islam religion.
“The school now has people at the gate whose job is to turn
him away until he shaves. The minister’s view is respected, but how can I sit
down with the school authorities when they do not want to talk to me and they
have even blocked me.”
At one point, the school officials allegedly threatened to
ban the learner from writing his exams.
His father had to plead with the school to allow him to
write the exams.
There are numurous previous court rulings that chastised
schools for barring pupils from attending lessons based on their religion.
In 2014, Batanai Secondary School in Mashava was barred
from expelling four pupils for wearing long hair after the Constitutional Court
ruled that such a decision was in breach of the girls’ “freedom of conscience”.
The quartet — Melody Svondo, Vimbainashe Matarirano and
twins Yolanda and Yonlanda Manyere — were members of the End Time Message
Church, and refused to trim their hair citing religious beliefs.
In 2007, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of an
eight-year-old Rastafarian schoolboy who was barred from attending Ruvheneko
Primary School in Glen Norah because of dreadlocks.
The bench ordered the readmission of Farai Benjamin Dzvova,
pointing out that the school had violated the boy’s constitutional rights.
In 2002, a Chitungwiza boy was expelled from Zengeza 4
Primary School because of his dreadlocks.
Justice George Smith ordered the school’s headmaster to
permit the 11-year-old Grade Five pupil to continue with his studies at the
school. Herald
0 comments:
Post a Comment