BISHKEK -- A Kyrgyz Muslim women's NGO claims that female students who wear the traditional Islamic headscarf are being subjected to discrimination, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.
The chairwoman of the Mutakallim NGO, Jamat Frontbek-Kyzy, told a meeting of the organization on September 13 that, at the beginning of the academic year on September 1, many female Muslim students across Kyrgyzstan were either forced to stop wearing a headscarf or expelled from secondary schools if they insisted on doing so.
Frontbek-Kyzy said her organization has received some 150 written complaints and more by SMS from the parents of students affected.
Education and Science Ministry representatives told RFE/RL that while there is no legislation banning Islamic headscarves at secondary schools, there is an established and approved uniform for all students.
Read more in Kyrgyz here
The chairwoman of the Mutakallim NGO, Jamat Frontbek-Kyzy, told a meeting of the organization on September 13 that, at the beginning of the academic year on September 1, many female Muslim students across Kyrgyzstan were either forced to stop wearing a headscarf or expelled from secondary schools if they insisted on doing so.
Frontbek-Kyzy said her organization has received some 150 written complaints and more by SMS from the parents of students affected.
Education and Science Ministry representatives told RFE/RL that while there is no legislation banning Islamic headscarves at secondary schools, there is an established and approved uniform for all students.
Read more in Kyrgyz here
