Uniform is for all students regardless of religion, Nairobi court rules

Pupils playing during a Physical Exercise (PE) lesson at a Nairobi school. PHOTO: FILE

NAIROBI: The school uniform must be the same for all learners regardless of religion and status, the High Court has ruled.

The court ruled that headteachers and management boards prescribed uniforms they believe play a big role in “securing high and improving school standards”.

High Court judge Anyara Emukule said students cannot have different attire for school uniform, saying this encourages religious and status divisions.

This verdict was read this week in a case where a parent challenged her daughter’s suspension from Bura Girls High School, Taita Taveta County, over alleged boycott of Sunday mass and wearing Hijab.

The judge ruled that school Boards of Management shall dictate what students should wear.

“In most schools in Kenya, the school principals or headteachers and their respective Boards of Management believe that school uniforms play an integral part in securing high and improving school standards, securing the needs of diverse communities, promoting a positive sense of communal identity and avoiding manifest disparities of wealth and style,” the judge said.

This means cases where some learners wear unique attire – such as hijabs – for school uniforms can now be challenged in courts of law by school management boards.

“I agree entirely with the above approach, in particular, in a country such as ours with diverse cultures and great disparities of wealth. A standardised approach in schools with such mundane things as uniforms would maintain a common identity among all students, irrespective of the origin of a particular student or his or her religious affiliation or faith,” Justice Emukule ruled.

Suspended

The complaint before the court was that 38 girls were suspended from school for refusing to attend Sunday mass on June 21 last year.

The petitioner, named ABH, explained that her daughter, together with others, hid in a classroom to avoid being forced to attend a Christian service during the Ramadhan.

She added that the suspension was not just about the Sunday service mass, but was a buildup of a disagreement over wearing Hijab during prayer times and fast.

The school asked the court to dismiss the case, arguing that the student chose the school out of free will and ought to adhere to its rules.

In addition, the court was told that a the Sunday mass is not about converting any person, but to make them good citizens.

What is however evident is that the issue of religion and dressing has split courts, as another ruling by the Court of Appeal says that attire that connote religious beliefs ought to be allowed as part of school uniforms. 

The ruling by Justice Emukule departed from a ruling in a case between Kenya Methodist Church and one Mohamed Fuchiga.

Fuchiga sued the church and St Paul’s Kiwanjani Secondary School in Isiolo County over his daughter’s suspension from the institution.

School rules

The Court of Appeal in Nyeri ruled that Muslim students ought to be allowed to wear hijab and trousers in addition to the school uniform.

The Methodist Church has since appealed the ruling before the Supreme Court, arguing that having preferential treatment in schools would amount to discriminating against others and would encourage defiance against schools rules.

The Teachers Service Commission (TSC), which is enjoined in the Fuchiga case as a respondent, argues that the only way to resolve the uniform and religion issue is through an Education Ministry policy.

The case will be heard on January 11, 2017.