The Düsseldorf Administrative Court has ruled that a Muslim schoolgirl is not allowed to wear her niqab in class, as reported by the Rheinische Post. The 17-year-old had filed a lawsuit together with her parents because the Bachstraße vocational college in Düsseldorf had banned her from wearing the face veil. The court rejected the application for a temporary injunction and declared the ban to be lawful. The decision is not yet final.
‘The pupil is not authorised to cover her face with a niqab while attending lessons,’ said the court. Such a veil would contradict the pupil’s legal obligation to actively participate in the fulfilment of the school’s educational mission.
According to the court, the aims of the school include not only the pure transfer of knowledge, but also the promotion of communication and exchange. ‘Both pupils among themselves and pupils and teachers must be able to exchange ideas in such a way that full – verbal and non-verbal – communication is possible at all times,’ it says in the grounds of the judgement. However, open communication in the classroom is considerably restricted, if not impossible, without the perception of facial expressions.
The judges emphasised that the almost complete covering of the face by the niqab significantly impaired the state’s educational mission. This restriction also justified an interference with the pupil’s constitutionally protected freedom of religion. There is no need for an additional legal regulation prohibiting the wearing of the face veil at school.
In particular, the court saw a concrete impairment in the assessment of performance. Oral participation accounts for half of the assessment in North Rhine-Westphalia. Without visible facial expressions, an appropriate assessment of the pupil’s contributions by the teachers was not possible.
The pupil had not been able to convincingly explain that she would have a conflict of conscience in class without a niqab. A conflict with her religious beliefs had also not been sufficiently explained. An appeal against the decision can be lodged with the Münster Higher Administrative Court. Until then, the decision of the Düsseldorf Administrative Court applies.