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Schools Have Final Say On Hijab, Kenyan Supreme Court Rules

January 24, 2019

The Supreme Court overturned the ruling on Thursday, premising its decision on the basis that every school had the right to determine its rules.

A Supreme Court sitting in Kenya has ruled that every school reserves the right to determine rules as it relates to school uniform.

According to Daily Nation, Supreme Court judges Njoki Ndung'u and Jackton Ojwang gave the ruling after reading the judgment on appeal by Methodist Church over wearing of hijabs in school.

The court ruled in a majority decision that an earlier ruling by the Court of Appeal went against the school uniform policy.

In September 2016, the Court of Appeal had ruled that students in public schools should be allowed to items depicting their religious affiliations, on their school uniforms.

The Methodist Church had, however, challenged the ruling at the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court overturned the ruling on Thursday, premising its decision on the basis that every school had the right to determine its rules.

The Methodist Church sponsors St. Paul's Kiwanjani Secondary School in Isiolo, Kenya.

A similar situation is playing out at the International School Ibadan (ISI), where the preference of some parents for their wards to wear the hijab has been opposed by the school management

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Education