Amid a raging debate over Hijab in parts of India, A school in Baramulla has asked teachers to remove Hijab during school hours to allow students to communicate freely with the teachers, the school, however, has said that the “issue has been resolved.”
The letter is doing rounds on social media and has evoked widespread anguish, While many others have appreciated the move.
A Twitter user wrote, “Their main motive is to remove hijab from our sisters and look at comments section instead of targeting school management they are targeting one who post-it ”
Their main motive is to remove hijab from our sisters
And look at comments section instead of targeting School management they are targeting one who Post it .
— Attitude Addiction (@Attitudeaddict4) April 26, 2022
“Principle meant for specially abled students of #Baramullah, but the circular simply instructs the school staff to ban the Hijab during school hours. #Hijab is part of education, most important to max students! #Kashmir,” twitter user Yasir Yousuf wrote.
Principle meant for specially abled students of #Baramullah, but the circular simply instructs the school staff to ban the Hijab during school hours.#Hijab is part of education, most important to max students! #Kashmir pic.twitter.com/lKd3y0UiEE
— Yasir Yousuf (@bhatyasir9697) April 26, 2022
Several others on social media appreciated the move and said that the move would help the specially- abled children understand things better.
“The language of expressions and emotions is universal. Teachers of Dagger Parivaar School decided to avoid #Hijab for the specially-abled children who learn by the expressions rather than words,” a social media user Zaira Nizam wrote.
The language of expressions and emotions is universal.
Teachers of Dagger Parivaar School decided to avoid #Hijab for the specially abled children who learn by the expressions rather then words.
❤❤ pic.twitter.com/4XUufysQz0— Zaira Nizaam 🇮🇳 (@Zaira_Nizaam) April 26, 2022
In an official letter of the school accessed by The Kashmiriyat, the Dagger Parivaar school has “instructed” the teachers to avoid Hijab during school hours, ” so that students can feel comfortable and are forthcoming to interact with teachers & staff.”
The official communication read, “Parivaar School is a place to learn and grow emotionally & morally. As the staff of the school, the main purpose is to provide for the fullest possible development of each learner. For the same, the trust must be established with the students to make them feel welcome, safe & happy. The staff is hereby instructed to avoid Hijab during school hours so that students can feel comfortable and are forthcoming to interact with teachers & staff.”
The letter has been signed by the principal of the school.
Officials from the Dagger Parivaar school calling the letter malicious propaganda said, “There is no issue here. This letter was shared by a teacher due to some misbehavior. We do not believe in such things.”
On being contacted by The Kashmiriyat, the official said that the issue has already been resolved, and declared null and void by the school. He said that the Dagger Parivaar School has many activities and therapies for the development of specially-abled children.
Dagger Parviar school in Baramulla Division has been running Parivaar School since October 2017 for specially-abled children. In 2021, the inauguration ceremony of the new Dagger Parivaar School building was organized by the Indian Army. The project was developed as a joint venture by the Indrani Balan Foundation, Pune and the Chinar Corps.
The Pune-based NGO, Indrani Balan Foundation, came forward to support this initiative in February 2021, which led to building new infrastructure for the Parivaar School to facilitate a conducive learning environment for specially-abled children.
According to its official statement, the school’s curriculum has been created keeping in mind the type and degree of disability of the students. The building has been designed taking into account the needs of the students, including specially-abled friendly washrooms.