August 5, 2019 3.05 pm This story is over 55 months old

Pupils asked to wear a hijab for a day to fight discrimination

The group behind the day said it has seen a rise in Islamaphobia
Ghada Mohamed hopes that it will reduce discrimination.

School children across Lincolnshire will be asked to wear a hijab for a day in a bid to fight discrimination.

Lincoln Muslim Sisters are in talks with schools from across the county to organise a day in November 2019 or February 2020.

Ghada Mohamed, from the local religious group, said that she hoped it would combat a rise in Islamaphobia.

She is hoping that if the day is successful then it could become an annual tradition in Lincolnshire.

“Each of the pupils will be able to make a choice as to whether they want to go into school wearing a hijab,” Ghada told The Lincolnite.

“When we actually go into schools and have conversations with pupils there’s a much lower chance of discrimination.

“It’s not just about Muslim people. We hope that this will break down barriers and reduce the abuse of all minority groups.”

The religious group said that it can either provide hijabs for schools or pupils could go choose to purchase their own.

Statistics released by the Home Office revealed that religious hate crime had risen by 40% to over 94,000 offences.

The report covered April 2017 to March 2018 and more than half of those crimes were directed at Muslims.