Indonesia bans schools from making students wear tudung

Students at an elementary school in Banda Aceh on Feb 3, 2021. A joint ministerial decree has banned schools in Indonesia from forcing students and faculty members to wear the 'tudung' Muslim headscarf. - AFP

JAKARTA (The Straits Times/ANN): The Indonesian government has banned schools throughout the country from forcing students or faculty members to wear a tudung (Muslim headscarf) or any other religious attribute, saying the prerogative for such lies with the individual, not the institution.

A joint ministerial decree on this was issued on Wednesday (Feb 3), following a recent uproar after a vocational school in Padang run by the provincial government in West Sumatra province required all female students, including non-Muslims, to wear the Muslim headscarf.