In Senegal, it is illegal to ban religious symbols at school

Published on October 10, 2024

Lecture : 1 minute.

Last August, the Prime Minister, Ousmane Sonko, sparked a lively controversy by warning establishments which would refuse the veil to school. On October 8, the Ministry of Education published a decree setting out the guidelines for establishments the day after the start of the school year.

Reference to the France

These rules guarantee “respect for religious beliefs including acceptance of the wearing of religious symbols, such as the veil, the cross, sacred pearls, without prejudice to a clear identification of the student within the school grounds, in classes and during educational activities,” says article 5 of this text.

The words of the Prime minister on the wearing of the veil had provoked the indignation of the National Council of the Laity, which brings together the country’s Catholic associations and movements, because they had summer perceived as targeting Catholic schools. “Some things can no longer be tolerated in this country. In France, they constantly talk to us about their model of vie and style, but that’s up to them. In Senegal, we will no longer allow certain schools to prohibit the wearing of the veil,” he declared. 30 July during a ceremony honoring the best students in Senegal.

The brief. The keys to African news in your inbox

Every week, receive 5 pieces of African news analyzed by our journalists.

Controversies over the wearing of the veil are not new in Senegal. In 2019, 22 Muslim high school girls had been banned from class in a renowned Catholic school in Dakar, the Institution Sainte-Jeanne-d’Arc (ISJA), for wearing the veil during the start of the school year school of September. They were then readmitted after a compromise between the establishment and the Senegalese state following an intervention of Vatican.

(With AFP)