Senegalese authorities this week ended the ban on religious symbols in schools. We ask “ acceptance of the wearing of religious symbols, such as the veil, the cross, sacred pearls, without prejudice to clear identification of the student within the school grounds, in classes and during educational activities”stipulates the decree on “respect for religious beliefs” published Tuesday October 8 by the Ministry of Education, the day after the start of the school year. This text, which clarifies a legal void, requires all establishments, whether public or private Catholic, to accept the wearing of religious symbols.
Populated by 95% Muslims, Senegal is a secular country by virtue of its Constitution inherited from the former French colonizer. Children’s education is provided by several types of establishments: public schools, accessible to all, private Catholic schools, Koranic schools, etc. Private Catholic establishments, renowned for the quality of their teaching, attract many elites, few their faith matters.
Although no establishment officially bans the Islamic headscarf, controversy erupted after a young girl was refused entry to Sainte Bernadette school in Dakar because she was wearing the veil, local media reports Seneplus. In 2019, the Sainte-Jeanne-d’Arc Institution (ISJA) refused to welcome Muslim high school students because they wore the veil. These were finally admitted thanks to a compromise reached between the establishment and the Senegalese state following an intervention by the Vatican.
“Some things can no longer be tolerated”
This summer, the new Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko sparked controversy by stating at the end of July: “Some things can no longer be tolerated in this country. In France, they constantly talk to us about their model of life and style, but that belongs to them. In Senegal, we will no longer allow certain schools to prohibit the wearing of the veil. » The mention of the Islamic headscarf is a way of bringing to the forefront of the public scene the consideration of religion in the institutional and political governance of Senegal, a theme dear to the Prime Minister’s movement.
The Prime Minister pronounced “a final verdict against educational establishments judged unceremoniously and thrown to popular vindictiveness”, then estimated the National Council of the Laity, established by the Conference of Bishops of Senegal, which brings together Catholic associations and movements.
The decree also addresses the issue of diversity in schools, which has been the subject of more debate in recent years, as students refuse to shake hands or sit next to boys. “This respect for religious difference does not exclude the student from participation in compulsory educational and sporting activities”specifies the decree, prohibiting “any obstacle to diversity in the use of school space”pour “reinforce the values of living together”.
