Wearing the veil in the classroom and suspended

[speedymama]

Story here .

The classroom assistant was asked to remove her veil because the children could not understand her and she refused. If I was a parent I would not want a totally veiled person aiding my child. I want my child to see who is suppose to be teaching them. I also don't want someone who looks like something out of a B-list horror movie having any influence over their education (the image shown reminds me of The Thing). I think this woman should learn the word compromise and like the Muslim MP said, there is nothing in Islam that says that she has to be totally covered in the presence of children.

I think Muslims like her are unreasonable and only interested in having their way at all costs. How can you reason with selfish and narrow minded people like that?

I believe that the conditions of her employment were that she could where the veil anywhere but the classroom and presumably she took the job on those terms.

Tbh, if those were the conditions of employment then I think she is just being provocative.

chck out my english! WEAR

This does seem to be a case of pushing the matter too far. This wasn't a question of English children failing to understand her English because of the veil (although that would have been a problem in any case), but the majority of these children did not have English as their first language and clearly lip-reading is a huge aid to learning a foreign language. It seems to me that the lady in question has just dug her heels in to an unreasonable degree and she is clearly more interested in demanding her "religious" rights than in the education of the children in her class.

From the story, it does seem like she's grandstanding. I thought (but could be wrong) that it would be OK to remove your veil in the company of children - isn't it only adult males who are not relatives who are the problem? School's right to insist if it is getting in the way of her helping - although I wonder if they could compromise at all and find her something else to do?

If she's a support worker then she needs to be in the classroom.

but could she do something other than reading practice, or does it not work like that?

she is just making a stand for some reason she doesn't have to wear it in the presence of pre pubescent children or women and if aman came in the classroom she could flick it down as it's only a light veil

I've only worked in secondary schools, but supporting and therefore talking to pupils in the classroom was a major part of the job.

It is ridiculous and she is being confrontational and totally unreasonable. Even various Muslim associations have come out against her. If she wins her case I just despair.

My dd is sn and has hearing problems. She needs to look at faces to establish whether she is being spoken to. For a support worker not to understand that children need facial 'contact' is absolutely ridiculous. Feel ther is also some selfishness on her part. I understand her religious need for a veil but fail to see where a class of small children would be a threat to that.

I don't think she was a learning support assistant for children with SEN. She was a bilingual support assistant, working with children for whom English is a second language I think.

She's a silly, stubborn mare, that's what she is. Totally stupid. I am incensed actually that public money is having to be spend by the school defending her outrageous claim. All that money will be money that cannot be spent on children - largely Muslim children. She should be ashamed.

I suppose it dosen't matter if the children being supported are sn or not... but all childrn learn alot from faces...

This is a school where many children are really struggling with English. The more I think about it the crosser I feel with this selfish bint.

Totally agree Sorrell, and presumably she was told before she took the job that she would be required to remove her veil in the classroom. She is doing it to make a point. Not doing the muslim cause much good either.

they should have sacked the stupid woman. If she was white and broke the terms of her contract she would have been sacked.

This is a case where the differences between clothing worn for cultural V religious reasons need to be clarified.

AFAIK, most Muslim scholars have said that the wearing of a full-veil is not required by The Koran.

Does/should the wearing of something for cultural rather than religious reasons carry the same weight? I don't think it does.

I agree that the woman deserved to be suspended and I suspect that she was being deliberately provocative, since there is no reason for her to be veiled in the presence of children.

However, I also find the OP's 'B-list horror' comments totally unnecessary. She looks like a woman wearing a veil - pretty much like every other veiled woman, in fact (and there are lots around here - I'm close to where this happened).

But lots of children are scared of people wearing black head to toe, and of veils.

Sorry, I don't want to come over as too po-faced (probably am already, but never mind), but surely it's our duty as parents to educate our children not to be scared of women dressed like that and to point out that it's just how some women choose to dress and a sign of their religion or culture or whatever. (And, no, I don't think it's OK to try to teach kids English while dressed like that, but I mean in the street or the supermarket or the park or wherever...) Certainly when we first moved here my dds commented on this (though they weren't scared, it was more 'Why is that lady wearing that funny dress?'), but now they don't even seem to notice it.

I, like most other Muslims, find this woman's stance completely indefensible and I'm wondering about the motives for starting this thread.

I think people start threads on stuff that's in the news.

or because people have a viewpoint on it that they want to discuss. Are we to make a taboo subject?

It's already been bought up in the other veils thread on the news forum.

Agree with Saadia.

It's a big news story about something that is very topical about women and children and schools. All total MN territory. Think you are being paranoid.