Muslim mother sues London school for banning her from wearing face veil

A Muslim mother has launched legal action against her daughter’s school after she was told she, the parent, was not allowed to wear a face veil on the premises.

Rachida Serroukh, 37, a single mother of three girls, was reportedly told by teachers during a parents evening at the prestigious Holland Park school in west London that it was the school’s policy not to allow face veils.

Ms Serroukh, a devout Muslim who has worn a face veil for the past 14 years, told The Guardian she was “very shaken” when a teacher at the school approached her and took her to a room to inform her of the unwritten policy.

“I was very shaken and was in a state of shock about what had happened. I had never experienced anything like this before," she said. “I have experienced name calling in the street from strangers about my veil but nothing like this had ever happened before. When I got home, I just broke down.”

Ms Serroukh, a qualified childcare assistant who used to study at the school herself, wrote to the school for clarification on the face veil ban.

She received a reply from the deputy head teacher stating that it had “not been necessary to date for the school to have this requirement stated in written policy". It continued: “Given the concerns you have raised, we are now considering a written amendment to our health and safety policy to include this specific requirement and will follow the normal protocol of seeking the approval of the governing body.”

Guidance from the Department for Education states that it is up to individual schools to decide whether staff and pupils can wear face veils, but it says nothing about parents and other visitors.

In a second letter, the shool wrote: “We would wish to reiterate that no offence was intended when Mrs … met with you to discuss the situation on the evening of the welcome interviews and it was the school’s intention to provide clarity and transparency.”

Ms Serroukh, who plans to return to work when her 11-year-old daughter is settled in school, said no policy had been mentioned before and she had never had a problem with security at the school gate, adding: "I always lift my veil and show my photo ID when required to do so for security purposes."

She said she thought at first that the teacher who raised the veil issue had misunderstood and thought her daughter would be attending school in a face veil. “I explained clearly that my daughter wears a headscarf and would not be coming to school in a face veil. Then I realised she was talking about me not my daughter,” she said.

Ms Serroukh said the incident left her feeling like she “doesn’t belong”, even though she lives across the road and used to attend the school.

“What has happened to me at Holland Park is discrimination. I hope we can resolve the matter amicably,” she added. “Education is very important to me and I want to ensure that all my children get a good education. My daughter, who will be starting at Holland Park after the school holidays, did really well in her Year 6 SATs and was the top girl in her class.

“The Government constantly talks about British values. To me, those values include diversity and multiculturalism. If a school in London is doing this, what might be happening elsewhere?”

Attiq Malik, of Liberty Law Solicitors, who is representing Ms Serroukh in court, said the case was not just about one incident but a question of human rights of every citizen in the country.

“The main question being raised is this woman’s freedom of expression and her freedom of belief being infringed unduly,” he told The Independent. “Schools should be allowed to dictate to people what they can and cannot wear on the premises, but what we say is there can’t be unlimited power of that, it has to be subject to the rule of law and human rights in this country.

“If people are not allowed to come to premises wearing a niqab for example – does this not pave the way for a raster not to be allowed to wear dreadlocks, or a Sikh not being allowed to wear a turban? What are we opening the door to?"

He added: “It’s a much bigger issue about human rights of every citizen in this country. And it’s become a bigger issue in recent years unfortunately due to the Islamophobic narrative that has been going on.

“Today it might be a lot of Muslims being targeted, but hate sees no boundaries of race, colour or religion, so if you allow it to take place on one group today and it isn’t challenged – tomorrow it could many other groups in society.”

Holland Park school has not yet responded to repeated requests to comment.