S'porean takes daughter from school

S'porean takes daughter from school

SINGAPORE: The parents of an 11-year-old girl who was told to leave school for wearing a banned traditional Islamic headscarf said on Tuesday they would educate her at home in protest against the Singaporean government.

Azhar Ali accused authorities of denying his daughter, Nur Ashikeen Azhar, the freedom to practice her religion after Eunos Primary School officials sent her home twice last week for wearing the traditional scarf, known as a tudung or hijab. He said he would not let them turn her away a third time.

The government of multiethnic Singapore banned headscarves from schools out of fear the scarves brought religious differences into the classroom.

Azhar, a deputy youth chief for the opposition Singapore Malay National Organization, said he will write both the school and the education ministry, asking them to overturn the ban. --AP