How to dress God’s children

Tolerance removes the problem. I teach in a Roman Catholic school where we have a number of Muslim children. The school is in the part of town where most of the Muslims seem to live. 
The girls wear rather longer skirts, a few wear headscarfs, and some of the senior boys don’t shave. They have the same provision for religious education as the Catholic children. Not a problem – after all, they are all God’s children.
JAG

Why are “thousands of state schools ... located inside monastic compounds”? Are they state schools or monastic schools?
If state schools are located in monastic compounds, does that mean that monastic law supersedes state law in regards to education in general? In the curriculum? In sporting activities? In the dress code? In operating hours?
Does monastic law supersede state law in all matters on monastic compounds or just education?
If the state pays rent for the land upon which their school resides (and presumably they do), do they not have the right to enact their own rules and regulations?
I rent my house. Does this mean that my landlord can set a dress code for me?
Questions, questions.
Samui Bodoh

The school should sit down and talk about its uniform policy. Make arguments for and against. Best ideas win.
I think uniforms in schools make sense because it’s supposed to make everyone feel equal and a real member of a school. There should be no exceptions to the rule other than a disability or something that can be proven.
If you want to wear a headscarf or a crucifix, etc, up to you. But you do it on your own time. In school you wear the same uniform everyone else wears. You’re there to learn. Number one lesson: there’s a time and a place for your “beliefs”.
R Kidlad

Nothing to do with religion. All state schools and many private schools don’t allow colour codes or dress codes that show a separation of one group to another. This includes wearing gang insignia, religious insignia, political insignia and political colours.
Religion has been removed from all state schools for more than 30 years. Children can study at home with family their particular beliefs without encroaching on others. My son went to a Saturday state school class. There was one Muslim in a group of 30. Pork was taken off the menu. And the children were forced to eat chicken. We don’t eat chicken because of the hormones in it. 
My son’s rights were violated. Apparently, he’s racist if he protests that. 
Greenchair

Wearing a hijab has nothing to do with exercising a religious principle. It is a misogynist medieval practice and is absolutely not a tenet of Islam.
It is purely a symbol of male power and the inferiority of the gender forced to wear it. 
It is exactly the same as allowing men to only allow their wives or daughters out with a slave collar or chastity belt. The huge problem is that, if wearing the hijab is permitted, then it actually becomes enforced against the wishes of many of the women. If a school allows it, how many children of Muslim parents would be allowed to choose not to, with no pressure? Probably none.
In Kuala Lumpur 30 years ago, almost no Muslim women wore the hijab in the office of the company I worked for. Twenty years later, everyone did, but not through free choice. If they did not, they would be sworn at, spat at and face physical or sexual assault.
Ban the hijab and you end the intolerance of forcing women to wear it and maybe start to address the deeper intolerance at the heart of many strains of Islam.
Futsakayoi
Thai Visa