Should we ban the veil in schools?

Robin · 24-08-2006, 08:53 PM

On a different level,not too much to do with religion,I dont think veils should be worn by schoolchildren.How can the teachers tell who they are,never mind if they can see their full facial expressions to see if they are learning?
Its part of a culture that`s best done away with,and the original reason for it is no longer valid.
ANd what about nuns?

StGeorge · 24-08-2006, 09:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kernow

All Children whatever their religious beliefs should wear the uniform of the particular school that has been chosen for them. School uniforms should be about all children being equal. Foreigners living in the UK should remember " When in Rome do as the the Romans do" I know I'm sick to death of bloody "Townies" moving down to Devonshire from "up Country" moaning about horse and cow s*** in country lanes!

Apart from me, I'm used to it, although there's more horsemuck up north than where I am in Devon because in Lancashire if it isn't the horseriders where my parents live, it's the police horses in the town centre. No wonder people don't use the toilets on a Saturday night when the police have been on horseback messing everywhere all afternoon with the football.

exo-politics · 24-08-2006, 10:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tom Wilde

Hmm, at the moment 15 people have voted that UKIP should ban the veil in schools, and only 2 against.

There has been much talk about UKIP being a libertarian party. All four leadership contenders make a great fuss on their websites about personal freedom and two of them explicitly call themselves libertarians. Quite a few people on this forum have said the same. Therefore I'm a bit surprised by this sudden enthusiasm for banning things.

Making women wear a veil strikes me as plainly wrong, and UKIP should help protect women from being coerced into wearing one. But when girls decide of their own free will to wear one then - however barmy that choice may strike us - surely libertarians would want them to be allowed to do so?

Of course, you might say that schoolgirls are too young to make such weighty decisions and that they are being coerced by their parents and friends. But while this may be true in some cases I don't see how it can be proved without grilling all friends and family members about who said what to whom. Surely just letting them wear a veil if they insist is a lesser evil?

I don't have strong feelings about this (unlike some), but I'm just surprised about the apparent inconsistency.

I would argue that no inconsistency exists within this policy suggestion as we are discussing school uniform rather than the widespread banning of wearing headscarves/veils in all public places. With the latter we would, of course, by oppresing the freedom of the individuals involved who would wish to wear this item of clothing. The difference with the former however, is that all (or the vast majority of) children in state education are required to wear a uniform set out by their school's individual policies.

This is not inconsistent, seeing as should a chav for example, wish to wear a baseball cap into school they would probably be told to remove the item by a member of staff. Surely it is unfair to treat one pupil in one way by allowing them to wear an item of headgear but deny another this privilidge?

If we are to be truely libertarian we would allow children to wear absolutely what they like to school. However, to prevent bullying, to ensure uptight health and safety and to create a sense of belonging to the school community school uniform exists and I personally consider that a good thing. For these reasons, we should uphold school uniform and either ban the wearing of this clothing within state schools or as previously proposed, allow the parents of the children attending the school to decide upon this policy.

Additionally a leadership candidate, namely David Campbell-Bannerman has declared themselves in favour of is Chad Noble's "No preference, no prejudice" soundbite where "no proposed policy will offer any preference to nor any prejudice against any group of adult Britons based on their sex, sexuality, age, race or religion." Alongside this, our constitution states "2.3 The Party will be guided in its activities by the principle of non-discrimination, including non-racism and non-sectarianism, and will be guided by the principle that all people are equal before the law. "
Say we extend this to children, it would then be against DCBs pledge and our constitution for a UKIP policy to allow the wearing of religious headgear within schools whilst simultaneously banning the wear of non-religious alternatives.

Niall Warry · 26-08-2006, 02:12 PM

Yes we should ban the veil in schools.

However the single most important move any governmenbt should make asap is to insist on only ONE LANGUAGE in schools and that should be ENGLISH. Also all publications like perscriptions, government and council bumph etc should be only in English. The only concession I would give is that I would allow ONE year befor the change to allow all those who can not speak or read ENGLISH to learn.

kernow · 26-08-2006, 04:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Niall Warry

However the single most important move any governmenbt should make asap is to insist on only ONE LANGUAGE in schools and that should be ENGLISH. Also all publications like perscriptions, government and council bumph etc should be only in English. The only concession I would give is that I would allow ONE year befor the change to allow all those who can not speak or read ENGLISH to learn.

A very good idea!

brian pearson · 26-08-2006, 09:40 PM

All traces of religion other than in history lessons should be removed from schools. Faith schools have got to be the best way of dividing society that governments have dreamt up so far.

kernow · 27-08-2006, 12:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brian pearson

Faith schools have got to be the best way of dividing society that governments have dreamt up so far.