Senegal PM warns Catholic schools against Islamic dress ban

Prime Minister Ousman Sonko of Senegal caused controversy by warning schools not to prohibit girls from wearing Islamic veils on their premises.

Speaking at an event on 30 July, Mr Sonko said that “certain things can no longer be tolerated in this country ... we will no longer allow certain schools to ban the wearing of the veil.”

He continued: “Beware of institutions refusing to accept a girl simply because she is veiled.” Sonko suggested that schools prohibiting the veil were embracing “Western” culture.

His words provoked outrage in Senegal’s Catholic community. In a statement on 7 August, members of the National Laity Council (CNL) said they were deeply concerned about the “clumsy and potentially divisive” remarks from the prime minister.

“These indelicate remarks by the head of government of the secular and democratic Republic of Senegal are likely to offend the sensibilities of Senegalese people who love justice and truth, and more particularly of full-fledged citizens of the Catholic faith who are legitimately concerned by the outspoken threats made against private Catholic institutions,” they said.

The statement described Senegal as a “melting pot” of cultures that have “coexisted in harmony for a very long time, long before the advent of the Abrahamic religions that we have welcomed”.

Debates over the wearing of the Islamic veil in schools has stirred controversy in Senegal in the past.

Ahead of the new term in September 2019, the prestigious St Joan of Arc School in Dakar published a set of internal rules requiring girls and boys to wear uniforms “with heads uncovered”. On the first day of term, 22 veiled girls were denied entry to the school.

The CNL has since contended that the internal regulations of Catholic schools aim to maintain order and uphold the schools’ missions, and do not violate pupils’ freedom of conscience.

However, opponents have argued that given Senegal’s population is 95 per cent Muslim, prohibitions on Islamic dress in Catholic schools contradict the principle of secularism in education.