DAVAO CITY, 3 November — The Department of Education has told school owners and officials to respect the religious rights of Muslim students and refrain from imposing rules that may be deemed discriminatory.
Education Secretary Raul Roco said the instruction should also be observed for other religious orientations.
“ All schools should strive to protect and strengthen the constitutional guarantee on the rights of citizens to freedom of religion and non-discrimination on the basis of sex, religion, creed or color,” he said.
Roco pointed out that schools need to be aware of the religious rights of their students and not force them to comply with certain practice that violate their religious rights.
Roco’s orders were embodied in DepEd Order 51 directing all schools, both public and private to review their policies so that religious rights of students are protected and strengthened.
He issued the order in response to the observation of the National Youth Commission that Muslim students attending schools are having difficulty obeying the policies and practices that infringe on their religious rights. Roco urged schools “to ensure that their policies are sensitive to the religious rights of students.”
Roco ordered that female Muslim students be allowed to use veil or headdress called hijab inside the school campus.
He also said that in P.E. classes, Muslim girls should not be required to wear offensive uniforms but instead be allowed to wear appropriate clothing in accordance with their religious beliefs.
Muslim students are also not required to participate in non-Muslim religious activities.
