British School Girl Loses Battle To Wear Niqab

24dash.com yesterday reported that a British High Court has ruled against a 12-year old Muslim student who was challenging her Buckinghamshire school's ban on her wearing a niqab (full face veil). The student had argued that the ban violated her "legitimate expectation" and infringed her right to freedom of "thought conscience and religion" under the European Convention on Human Rights (Art. 9). The court, however, upheld the school, finding that the ban was "proportionate". The veil prevented teachers from seeing the pupil's facial expressions and so interfered with effective classroom interaction; the ban was necessary to enforce a school uniform policy so girls of different faiths would have a sense of equality and identity within the school; school security required the ban so that an unwelcome visitor could not move incognito around the school wearing a niqab; and the ban was necessary to avoid peer pressure on girls to start wearing the veil. Authorities have offered the student-- who is now being tutored at home-- a place at a different mixed school where wearing of the niqab is permitted, but she wants to go back to her original school. (See prior related postings 1, 2.)