Veil Teacher Should be Sacked, says Minister

Government Minister for Local Government and Community Cohesion Phil Woolas has said the Muslim teacher suspended for refusing to remove her veil in a Church of England junior school class should be suspended.

Azmi was suspended by the school after she refused to remove her veil while teaching young children in her English language lessons.

A council spokeswoman confirmed the suspension, saying that the 24-year-old had refused to heed to requests from the school to remove the veil following complaints from pupils that they found it hard to understand her the lessons.

"She should be sacked. She has put herself in a position where she can't do her job," he told the Sunday Mirror.

The call comes as Azmi said that wearing the veil in class had never been a problem for her pupils at the Heathfield Church of England Junior School in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire.

Azmi was told by the school that she could wear the veil in corridors and the staff room at Headfield Church of England Junior School in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, but must remove it when teaching.

But Azmi told BBC radio that pupils had "never complained" and denied the claims that children had difficulty in understanding her speak through the garment.

She said many of the pupils at the school were Muslim and would have been used to seeing their mothers wearing the veil.

The BBC said Kirkless Council had asked her to take off her veil in class, but she told the Today programme she disputed their version of events.

Azmi said she had always been willing to take her veil off in front of children, but had refused to do so in the presence of male colleagues, reports Reuters.

Kirklees Council's children's services spokesman, Jim Dodds, assured that Azmi's suspension was "nothing to do with religion".

He said, "We are simply trying to ensure that our children get the best possible education. Both pupils and teachers raised concerns because they were finding it difficult to make out what she was saying during lessons.

"We have a lot of pupils who do not speak English as a first language and you have to be able to see people's lips move when you are being taught. We asked this young lady to remove her veil when she was teaching English language, but she refused."

Mr Dodds said that even if Azmi won her case the council would not alter its stance.

"Our only concern is that the children are taught properly."

An employment tribunal is considering the case and will announce its decision within days.

Also on Sunday, Cabinet Minister Peter Hain rubbished a decision by British Airways to send home Nadia Eweida for refusing to cover up her cross necklace under her neckscarf.

"Frankly I think British Airway's order for her not to wear her cross is loopy," the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland told the BBC.