Amendment to the law
The principles of “national character and secularism” were added to the General Education Law.
A dress requirement became mandatory for students and education staff in state schools.
Situation
A classroom door can be closed. The right to learn cannot.
In Azerbaijan, girls and women who wear the headscarf are being kept out of schools. This page explains what is happening, briefly and plainly.
Timeline
What is happening?
Two official decisions, and what they mean in the classroom.
Cabinet of Ministers decision no. 309
Clothing items deemed incompatible with the school uniform and the principle of secularism were banned.
In practice, the decision is being applied against students and teachers who wear the headscarf.
Result
The girls left at the door wear the headscarf.
- Girls who wear the headscarf are not admitted to school.
- Teachers who wear the headscarf cannot continue working.
- Girls are falling behind in lessons and exams.
Videos
Not in words, in footage
See what is happening at the school gate in the publishers' own footage.
A father appeals for his headscarf-wearing daughter's right to education. In the footage he says he lost his arm in the war; the source presents him as a Karabakh veteran.
Source: Gülən Müsəlman / Mira Haber
In a Baku classroom, pupils embrace their headscarf-wearing teacher. She was reportedly removed from her post; this is not independently confirmed.
Source: Meydan TV
Balakhany, School No. 69: pupils protest in support of their headscarf-wearing classmates.
Source: Mira Haber
Press
Reactions and press
These are links to published reports. The summaries are ours; follow the link for the original.
- Al JazeeraAzerbaijan school pupils protest over reported hijab restrictionsVideo report: pupils demonstrate outside schools and stay away from lessons over reports that classmates and teachers who cover their heads are being kept out. (opens in a new window)
- Haksöz HaberLanguage of the report: TRAzerbaycan’da başörtüsü hiçbir zaman gerçek anlamıyla serbest olmadıIn this unsigned commentary the author argues that the restrictions are not new, recalling the refusal of headscarved photos on official documents and the 2010 school ban and the protests against it. In the author's view, the September decision and the later amendment covering teachers suggest this is not the initiative of individual principals, and the absence of an official explanation deepens the concern. (opens in a new window)
- Haber7Language of the report: TRAzerbaycan'da kadın öğretmenlere kılık kıyafet düzenlemesiThe report presents decision no. 325 on teachers' dress, signed by Prime Minister Ali Asadov: clothing must be neat, plain and in keeping with the secular principle, and women teachers' skirts and dresses must be knee-length or longer. According to the piece, the emphasis on secularism has rekindled the headscarf debate, and footage on social media shows teachers, too, being kept out of schools. (opens in a new window)
- SerbestiyetLanguage of the report: TRAzerbaycan’da 28 Şubat günleri. Devlet televizyonundan başörtüsü yasağına destek videosu: “Hangi okulda okumak isterdiniz?”The liberal-leaning site writes that a video by state broadcaster AzTV comparing pupils with and without headscarves drew criticism, and reports that the Baku City Education Department announced on 9 October that dress inspections would begin. It also covers the boycott at school no. 69 and appeals by the veteran and artist Roza Ibadova, noting there is no official confirmation of teacher dismissals. (opens in a new window)
- BBC News AzərbaycancaLanguage of the report: AZAzərbaycanda ''hicab qadağası''na etirazlarla bağlı videolar yayılıbVideos circulating on social media: in footage said to be filmed near a Baku school, pupils protest with a placard reading “Hijab is no barrier to education”; in another, pupils gather around a headscarf-wearing teacher. (opens in a new window)
- OC MediaAzerbaijan students launch school strike over hijab restrictionsStudents at two schools boycotted classes in protest at restrictions on hijab-wearing pupils; jailed journalist Polad Aslanov also began a hunger strike. (opens in a new window)
- Abzas MediaLanguage of the report: AZMəktəblərdə hicablı müəllimlərə xəbərdarlıq: “Ya başınızı açın, ya da işə gəlməyin”A teacher who asked not to be named told Abzas Media that at a meeting in schools in Baku's Bayil area, headscarf-wearing teachers were told from 9 October to either uncover their heads or not come to work; by her account three teachers were sent home and one resigned. The piece also relays similar complaints posted online by staff of Schools No. 60 and No. 97. (opens in a new window)
- Meydan TVLanguage of the report: AZBaku City Education Department"Hicab qadağası" fonunda Təhsil İdarəsi məktəblərdə yoxlamalara başlayırMeydan TV reports that the Baku City Education Department is starting monitoring of pupils' and teachers' compliance with dress rules. It notes this comes amid complaints that headscarf-wearing girls were kept out of class in Jalilabad and other districts, and that the department's statement did not address those complaints. (opens in a new window)
- Meydan TVLanguage of the report: AZPolad Aslanov, imprisoned journalistMəhbus jurnalist hicab qadağasına etiraz olaraq aclığa başlayıbAccording to a statement made public by his wife Gulmira Aslanova, the journalist began a hunger strike on 8 October in protest at the restrictions reportedly applied to headscarf-wearing pupils and teachers. He calls them contrary to the constitutional guarantee of freedom of conscience and says his own child's right to education has also been restricted; no official response is reported. (opens in a new window)
- KararLanguage of the report: TRZahra Hasanova, a teacher; a father who is a Second Karabakh War veteranAzerbaycan'da başörtüsü zulmüne tepki yağıyor: Kolumu vatan için verdim, kızım okula alınmıyorThe report relays two widely viewed videos: teacher Zahra Hasanova says she was told she may no longer teach wearing a headscarf, and a veteran who lost an arm in the war says his daughter is being kept out of school over her headscarf and appeals to the President and the ministry. Both describe what happened to them in their own words. (opens in a new window)
- SözcüLanguage of the report: TRKardeş ülkede başörtüsü yasağı öğretmenlere uzandıCiting Toplum TV, the daily writes that after the new teacher dress rule of 6 October, headscarf-wearing teachers in Baku and Sumgayit were told either to uncover or to resign. It also recalls the veteran's appeal and theologian Abgul Suleymanov's 30-day detention, which his family links to his criticism; the ministry has not commented on the claims. (opens in a new window)
- Haksöz HaberLanguage of the report: TRAzerbaycan’da laik dayatma derinleşiyor: Eğitimde başörtüsü kısıtlaması genişletiliyorThe site comments on the new dress requirements for teachers and other education staff, arguing that the secularism-conformity condition could be used to restrict headscarf-wearing women's work and schooling. (opens in a new window)
Know of a report or statement? Send it to us: hello@azadhicab.com
A matter of faith
For these girls the headscarf is not a symbol; it is a clear command of the book they believe in. They are being forced to choose between school and their faith.
Surah An-Nur, verse 31
وَقُل لِّلْمُؤْمِنَٰتِ يَغْضُضْنَ مِنْ أَبْصَٰرِهِنَّ وَيَحْفَظْنَ فُرُوجَهُنَّ وَلَا يُبْدِينَ زِينَتَهُنَّ إِلَّا مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا ۖ وَلْيَضْرِبْنَ بِخُمُرِهِنَّ عَلَىٰ جُيُوبِهِنَّ ۖ وَلَا يُبْدِينَ زِينَتَهُنَّ إِلَّا لِبُعُولَتِهِنَّ أَوْ ءَابَآئِهِنَّ أَوْ ءَابَآءِ بُعُولَتِهِنَّ أَوْ أَبْنَآئِهِنَّ أَوْ أَبْنَآءِ بُعُولَتِهِنَّ أَوْ إِخْوَٰنِهِنَّ أَوْ بَنِىٓ إِخْوَٰنِهِنَّ أَوْ بَنِىٓ أَخَوَٰتِهِنَّ أَوْ نِسَآئِهِنَّ أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَٰنُهُنَّ أَوِ ٱلتَّٰبِعِينَ غَيْرِ أُو۟لِى ٱلْإِرْبَةِ مِنَ ٱلرِّجَالِ أَوِ ٱلطِّفْلِ ٱلَّذِينَ لَمْ يَظْهَرُوا۟ عَلَىٰ عَوْرَٰتِ ٱلنِّسَآءِ ۖ وَلَا يَضْرِبْنَ بِأَرْجُلِهِنَّ لِيُعْلَمَ مَا يُخْفِينَ مِن زِينَتِهِنَّ ۚ وَتُوبُوٓا۟ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ جَمِيعًا أَيُّهَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ
Meaning
And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and guard their chastity, and not to reveal their adornments except what normally appears. Let them draw their veils over their chests, and not reveal their [hidden] adornments except to their husbands, their fathers, their fathers-in-law, their sons, their stepsons, their brothers, their brothers’ sons or sisters’ sons, their fellow women, those [bondwomen] in their possession, male attendants with no desire, or children who are still unaware of women’s nakedness. Let them not stomp their feet, drawing attention to their hidden adornments. Turn to Allah in repentance all together, O believers, so that you may be successful.
No girl should be forced to choose between her faith and her education.
Our voice
When a door closes, voices rise.
The objection to girls being left outside school, and the hands reaching out to them, are already visible. On this wall we gather the traces of that solidarity.
A teacher in Azerbaijan is offering free Biology and History lessons to every pupil who falls behind because of the headscarf. Solidarity has already begun.
Instagram · @huseyn.memmedov_ekspert — View the post
An independent post, not affiliated with Azad Hicab.
Education is every girl’s right.
Azad Hicab
A headscarf is no barrier to learning.
Azad Hicab
Before a closed door, we will not be silent.
Azad Hicab
No girl should have to choose between her faith and her school.
Azad Hicab
This wall will grow: new photographs and videos will appear here as they arrive.
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Leave a note demanding that the President lift the ban, or pre-register to teach or to learn.
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