Thai Education Ministry Bars Hijab at Buddhist School in Deep South

Thai education officials have ruled that Muslim students attending a Buddhist-run school in the mainly Muslim Deep South region are required to wear uniforms and cannot dress according to Islamic customs.

Buddhists and Muslim students alike must wear uniforms and abide by the dress-code of the school, which sits on the property of a Buddhist temple, Wat Noppawongsaram, the Ministry of Education ruled. Girls and boys at Anuban Pattani School are required to wear knee-length skirts and shorts, respectively, and girls may not wear hijab.

Pattani is one of the provinces in Thailand’s troubled southern border region, where a separatist insurgency has gone on for decades.

A ruling published in Thailand’s Royal Gazette on Wednesday said Muslim students at non-Islamic schools could “opt” to wear uniforms or follow the dress code – except at schools located on temple properties, where it would be mandatory.

“With the exception of schools that share temple property, the dress code should comply with the agreement between the temple and the school,” the notice said.

As many as 1,838 students are enrolled at the school in Muang Pattani district, and 40 percent are Muslims, according to demographic information posted on the school’s website.