A ban on headscarves for female students and staff in primary schools is soon on the parliamentary agenda, and Minister Mathias Zweig remains silent.
After the “Struggle for Forgotten Women” committee, formed by the previous Danish government, issued its recommendations last August to ban the wearing of headscarves in primary schools (grades 0-9) for both female students and employees, the Danish People’s Party (blue right) is again trying to put the recommendation to a vote in the Danish parliament, and the party’s immigration officer, Pia Kjærsgaard, is trying to rally a parliamentary majority to vote in favor of the decision.
With Mathias Zweij taking over the education and childhood portfolio in the new SVM government headed by Mette Frederiksen, this issue falls within his responsibilities. He himself was responsible for forming the committee when he was Minister for Foreigners and Integration in the previous government.
Although the Danish People’s Party’s viewpoint, which put forward a proposal before Christmas to “ban pupils and staff from wearing the Islamic headscarf in primary schools,” is based on the recommendations of the aforementioned committee, the Danish People’s Party had previously put forward similar proposals regarding the headscarf ban, and the proposals have since been voted on in Parliament, but the party has not succeeded in convincing a parliamentary majority to vote for the decision.
Pia Kjærsgaard describes this issue as a “big problem” in Denmark: “It does not promote gender equality at all. It also does not promote integration into Danish society,” she says.
No date has been set for consideration of the proposal in the Danish parliament, and if there is ultimately a majority in favor of the resolution proposal, the government will be obliged to follow through with it.
According to TV2, the ministry notes that Matthias Zweij does not want to answer how the new SVM government views the committee's recommendation for a ban.
