Lagos State Government rejects Hijab in public schools

Lagos State Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye

Lagos State Government says pupils in its public schools are only allowed to wear conventional uniforms to the school.

It added that usage of other appendages, including Hijab, a head scarf for Muslim women, would not be allowed.

The Commissioner for Education Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye, said this on Tuesday at a press briefing in Ikeja, adding that usage of Hijab and other religious materials in public schools was against government’s policy.

She said, “I summoned a stakeholder’s meeting that was chaired by the Commissioner for Home Affairs and Culture, Alhaji Oyinlomo Danmole. The Muslim students were represented at the meeting, Lawyers were represented. We discussed the issue at length and we reached certain agreement.

“We agreed that students could only use their Hijab when they want to go for prayers, when they want to read Qur’an, and when they are going for Jumat prayer on Fridays.

“It was agreed that no student should wear Hijab on her uniform. Doing so will cause confusion and break down of the law.

 “Whoever wish that his daughter should be wearing Hijab while going to school and within the school should send such child to a private Muslim school,”

The commissioner, who said the government was committed to overhauling the education sector, added that the administration had spent over N7bn in upgrading the Lagos State University.

Oladunjoye added that the government would continue to provide qualitative education “by all means”.

She said various educational development programmes like Eko Project, Support Our Schools Initiative, and specialised development programmes for teachers and administrators in 20 specialised areas, were parts of government programmed to boost education.

She said, “For theteachers and administrators, we are boosting their capacities in areas such as subject mastery, leadership, classroom management, assessment and evaluation, ICT, Basic Accounting and many others.”


-- Punch

The Lagos State government has denied banning use of hijab in public schools, as the issue is still being looked into with a view to taking a broad-based stand on it.In a reaction to a report by Punch newspaper which credited the Commissioner for Education, Olayinka Oladunjoye, with writing off the possibility of allowing hijab in public schools, the state government rejected the report as incorrect, sensational and out of context.



The Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Lateef Ibirogba, said the government was still making wide consultations on the issue and will only come up with a position after exhausting all the avenues that will allow for a peaceful resolution of the matter.

To avoid a needless heightening of tension, the Commissioner advised the people of the state, particularly Muslim faithful, not to allow people with diabolic intentions to trivialise the issue of sustaining the peaceful co-existence of the diverse groups in the state.