Zurich parliament backs school headscarf ban

Zurich’s cantonal parliament has backed a motion calling for headscarves to be banned in schools and kindergartens, SRF reported. The cantonal government must now draft legislation covering religious head coverings in public schools and kindergartens.

The Swiss People’s Party motion was narrowly approved on Monday by 87 votes to 82, with six abstentions. It calls for girls and women to be prohibited from wearing headscarves at all public-law schools and kindergartens in the canton.

The cantonal government had already indicated before the debate that it was prepared to accept the motion and draw up a constitutionally compliant proposal. It now has two years to submit a report and recommendation to parliament.

The motion cited France, where headscarves have been banned in schools since 2004. According to the motion, the ban had helped Muslim pupils integrate better and achieve better school-leaving qualifications than before its introduction.

The proposal was supported by the Swiss People’s Party and the FDP, as well as parts of the Green Liberal Party and the Evangelical People’s Party. The political left and the Centre Party opposed it.

During an occasionally heated debate, the Swiss People’s Party said it viewed the headscarf as a symbol of oppression and argued that schools should be places of free development, free from religions that impose different rules on girls and boys.

The Greens called for more differentiated measures. The Social Democratic Party accused the Swiss People’s Party of deliberately fuelling resentment towards Muslims and argued that a ban on headscarves for children would conflict with the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of religion. The Centre Party said it was wrong to single out one religious symbol.