In what is considered as victory for Muslim women\u2019s groups, Muslim students in universities in the French-speaking Wallonia region of Belgium will be allowed to don their hijab freely starting from September 2021.
\u201cExcellent news! A strong gesture in favor of the #inclusion of all #adult women in higher education. Women will now be able to pursue their education and their dreams of having a professional career,\u201d the Collective against Islamophobia in Belgium (CCIB) wrote on Twitter.
Saturday\u2019s decision overturns an earlier ban in June 2020 on \u201creligious symbols\u201d, including the hijab in schools and higher education.
It also follows several protests last year against the ruling by Belgium\u2019s Constitutional Court allowing higher education institutions to ban the hijab.
Shortly after the decision, 12 Belgian universities and colleges have assured students they would not impose such ban, stressing that religious freedom is protected in their classrooms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Religious Freedom In what is considered as victory for Muslim women\u2019s groups, Muslim students in universities in the French….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":11780,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-c102-muslim-minorities"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
<\/strong>\u201cWe are reversing the principle, in the name of the inclusion of the greatest number, of emancipation and the fight against inequalities,\u201d Julien Nicaise, general administrator of Wallonia-Brussels Education (WBE), a public body that manages French-speaking public schools in Belgium told local media website DHnet on Saturday.
\u201cThe general interest must come first. We can no longer refuse these young women on the pretext that they wear a veil, prevent them from studying. A diploma is their passport to inclusion through employment.\u201d
Islam sees hijab as an obligatory code of dress, not just a religious symbol displaying one\u2019s affiliations.
Last month, the Austrian Constitutional Court overturned a ban on hijab for students in elementary schools, deeming it discriminatory and unconstitutional.
A few days earlier, a Swedish court also overturned a bill banning all forms of Muslim head coverings at schools.
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