Another girl victimised over religious dress

BBC NEWS: ‘Bangle’ pupil is excluded again

This is a report about a Sikh girl, aged 14, who has been excluded from school in south Wales for insisting on wearing the kara, or bangle, which is mandated in the Sikh religion. The school she goes to, Aberdare Girls’, also bans headscarves. (Something similar happened to my sister when she started school; the school would not allow her to wear her Baptism bracelet, which had to be cut off as it could not be removed any other way.)

Is it not about time these people were put in their place? They are there to teach, and to get young people through exams so they can get into other institutions and into jobs. Schools are not private charitable foundations staffed by volunteers; they are institutions funded by public money, staffed by functionaries, and often governed by local “worthies” who just want another entry on their CV. Why on earth should they have the right to pick and choose who they teach, as long as people aren’t beating each other up or smashing the place up?

And it is a lie that refusing children the right to wear obvious signs of religion ensures equality, much as it is not true that enforcing a uniform does that. Anyone who has ever been to school know that kids are very well able to identify other kids’ differences; where they live and how they talk are a pretty good sign that a kid is a “snob”, kids can be singled out if they don’t want to mix or don’t care for what everyone else likes, and as for religion, it is a constant of human civilisation. That’s not going to change because people are prevented from obeying whatever parts of their religion that demand showing signs of it. Is it not time that people just got used to it? Take this girl back into the school as she obviously wants to go – I’m sure you’ve got plenty who don’t – and do the job you’re paid for!