We seem to have missed two teachable opportunities last week.
The first was the story of the two Muslim sisters attending their new school, Goodwood Park Primary, on the first day back in the classrooms.
The nine- and 12-year- old girls were prevented from attending, because their parents had added pants to their uniform to adhere to a modest Islamic dress code.
Their headscarves were reportedly not a problem, as the school had already made concessions for those, as well as leggings, which the girls’ parents didn’t deem sufficient.
That’s how these young ladies ended up starting their school year being unconsciously and unintentionally controversial. And it seems that every year, there’s some or the other issue or controversy that could’ve very easily been avoided.
In my opinion, this incident is no different.
I have always had mixed feelings about uniforms.
On the one hand I appreciate them for the sake of cash-strapped parents, who would otherwise have to regularly fork out fortunes on civvies for image-conscious kids wanting to keep up with the latest fashions.
On the other hand, we have an education system that forces our kids into uniformity while at the same time trying to teach them to stand out and be different, to encourage the sort of individuality that will foster entrepreneurship.
It’s a paradox wrapped inside an enigma that has always confounded me. But that’s a conversation for another day.
In this case, if every kid was allowed to wear whatever they liked, or could afford, then we wouldn’t have a problem.
But wishful thinking aside, schools still exist within the context of a broader community with certain societal norms.
This is really what is missing from this conversation, and others like it, whether it be hair or ever-shortening skirts.
Of course there’s context and nuance that necessitates a case-by-case approach.
But by and large, schools should reflect the communities they serve; Cape Town has a rich and diverse population, the largest of which is our Muslim neighbours, friends and relatives.
Which, by the way, is also why the periodic objections to the Islamic call to prayer confuses me so much. This is, after all, part and parcel of who we are as a society.
As an aside, I always find it laughably sad how we revere devout nuns who cover their entire bodies from head to toe in the name of religious piety.
But a Muslim woman who does almost exactly the same thing for the same reason, and looks virtually identical, has to explain herself and often has to endure ridicule.
These religious discriminations stink to high heavens. But again, a conversation for another day.
Back to our school incident, where the principal could’ve chosen to handle the matter a lot more sensitively and sensibly, especially considering that this is an institution dedicated to teaching and learning.
The decent, adult and responsible thing to have done would’ve been to protect the kids and instead call the parents and get the answers to the questions.
This would’ve taught the teachers something that they have obviously been ignorant about – the fact that conservative, modest dress for Muslim women is a requirement that many follow strictly and do not have a choice in.
This information could then have been used to avoid similar future encounters, but also to teach the other non-Muslim kids respect for diversity.
Hopefully a similar decision will be reached by the school this week.
But sadly, and as is always the case, the children’s innocence has already been shattered by adults rushing in without thought, because a governing body had made a blinkered and inflexible decision.
Governing bodies have an important role to play in the administration of a school, but they shouldn’t be allowed to dictate matters related to the holistic education of a child; the kind of education that is going to eventually send a thinking, dreaming, understanding and compassionate person out into the world.
That’s the domain of teachers and that’s what we entrust them to do. But when that very institution singles out one child for something, no matter what happens afterwards, the other kids will always associate that issue with something questionable or unacceptable.
And when it comes to culture, religion or gender identity, then that type of lasting, subconscious stigma is what sadly continues to breed unacceptable divisions in our world.
Caption: MODEST: These Goodwood Park Primary girls stood out.
Caption credit: Picture: ayanda ndamane