School Veil Ban Threat
Updated: 08:34, Sunday March 04, 2007
Headteachers are to receive guidance confirming their right to set uniform rules in the wake of a court case over the wearing of veils in class.
Education Secretary Alan Johnson is acting after a 12-year-old girl lost a legal battle last month to wear the full-face niqab in class in her Buckinghamshire school.
A Department for Education spokeswoman said the guidance would cover all aspects of uniforms and would reflect the recent ruling.
"We have always said that headteachers are responsible for setting their own uniform policies," she said.
"That is the bedrock of the policy."
The judge in the Buckinghamshire case stressed that it should not be seen as a wider statement on the permissibility of veils in schools, pointed out the spokeswoman.
But there are predictions that the new guidance would result in hundreds of schools imposing a ban on full-face coverings.
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/...254134,00.html