Kerala school hijab row: St. Rita’s Public School resumes functioning, management rejects Education Minister’s claims

St. Rita’s Public School at Palluruthy in Kochi, Kerala, which had remained shut for two days following the hijab row involving a Class 8 student, resumed functioning on Wednesday (October 15, 2025) even as the school authorities rejected Minister for General Education V. Sivankutty’s remark that they had refused to permit her to attend classes for wearing headscarf.

Principal Sr. Heleena Alby told mediapersons that the Minister had made such a statement “without verifying the facts.” The school had never prevented the student from attending the classes even after the issue had come to the public domain, she said.

She recalled a decision by the Kerala High Court in 2018 in a similar case that school managements have the right to frame the rules and regulations related to school uniform. She said the management has “never resorted to discrimination” against any student based on their religion. “We have submitted our reply to the notice issued by the Education department,” she said.

The father of the student had stated on Tuesday that his daughter would adhere to the school’s dress code as he “did not want to escalate” the alleged efforts to create a communal divide over the issue.

However, he said on Thursday that he might ask her to wear the headscarf in view of the directive issued by the Minister for General Education that she should be permitted to attend the school wearing it.