St. Rita’s Public School in Palluruthy reopened on October 15 after a two-day closure over a dispute involving a student wearing a hijab, but the student at the centre of the controversy did not attend classes, with her parent citing health issues for her absence.
The controversy began when an eighth-standard student, who had joined the institution this academic year, started wearing a head covering over her prescribed uniform. For nearly four months, the student had followed the school’s uniform policy without objection, but recently began wearing an additional garment over it. The school has maintained its uniform policy for 30 years.
On October 10, when the student arrived wearing the head covering, she was taken to the conference room in the presence of a teacher and her parents were summoned. According to Principal Sister Heleena Alby, the parent arrived with about six others, created a disturbance and recorded videos during school hours. This created alarm among other students and teachers.
The student’s father contested this account. He said his daughter had initially been allowed to wear the head covering. “Earlier, she was asked to remove it inside the classroom, but now they have started objecting even at the school gate,” he claimed. He added that he had filed complaints with the District Education Officer and the concerned minister.
Principal Sister Heleena clarified that the student previously kept the extra garment in her bag. “When her mother approached us recently, we reminded her of the guidelines given during admission,” she said.
Following the incident, the school declared holidays on October 13 and 14 after several teachers and staff members requested leave, citing distress. The decision was taken after consulting the Parent Teacher Association executive members.
PTA president Joshi Kaithavalappil alleged that the parents were supported by the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), a pro-Islamist political outfit with significant presence in Kerala, and that its members behaved inappropriately with the school officials, predominantly nuns. SDPI has not responded to these allegations. The school management approached the Kerala High Court seeking police protection and received a favourable order.
“She can continue to attend the classes. The school isn’t denying education to anyone. But we need the students to comply with the school’s rules and discipline,” Kaithavalappil said.
On October 14, Hibi Eden MP and Mohammed Shiyas, Ernakulam District Congress Committee president, mediated a meeting between the student’s family and school management. Following this, the student’s father stated that the family was willing to abide by the school’s regulations and wanted their daughter to continue her studies there. “We do not want this to be exploited for any communal agenda,” he said.
Anas, a family representative, reaffirmed their readiness to comply with the school’s uniform policy while firmly rejecting any attempts by external groups to escalate the issue. Hibi Eden alleged that BJP-RSS groups had deliberately tried to stir unrest, asserting that “no one will be allowed to create communal divisions”.
However, late on October 14, State Education Minister V. Sivankutty intervened, stating the government had acted swiftly after receiving the student’s father’s complaint. An inquiry conducted by the Ernakulam Deputy Director of Education found serious lapses on the part of the school authorities. The inquiry report concluded that preventing a student from attending class for wearing a headscarf amounted to serious misconduct and breached the Right to Education Act. It also stated that the school’s action went against the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom. The minister instructed the school principal and manager to resolve the distress experienced by the student and her parents and submit an action taken report to Education officials.
The PTA president rejected the minister’s directive. “Not just the student, the institution too has rights, no change in policy prohibiting hijabs,” Kaithavalappil said. He pointed to a 2018 Kerala High Court ruling related to the matter and said the issue should be reviewed based on that judgement.
On October 15, the school reopened under heavy police protection. The school’s spokesperson said they would have a relook at the issue in the wake of the minister’s response. However, the student did not attend, with her parent citing health issues. Subin Paul, Deputy Director of Education, Ernakulam, said that since the issue had been resolved, the department would not get involved further.
The controversy echoes a similar dispute in Karnataka in February 2022, when Muslim girl students were stopped from attending classes wearing hijabs. The Karnataka High Court had upheld the hijab ban, stating that hijab is not an essential practice of Islam.
