Nadine Osman
Berlin can no longer ban Muslim teachers from wearing the hijab (headscarf), as confirmed by the Federal Constitutional Court on March 29.
Education in Germany is the responsibility of the individual states, which each have their own education ministry. In September 2003, the German Federal Constitutional Court ruled that the states could ban the wearing of the hijab by female teachers and that this would not infringe on the constitutional protection of freedom of religion.
However, a ban could only be implemented by state law, and not by administrative decisions.
The German government plans to allow hijab in general, but it can be restricted in individual cases if it poses a danger to school peace.
Berlin’s Education Department sent the official letter to schoolteachers.
Under Berlin’s neutrality act, which prevents civil servants from wearing religious clothing and symbols, teachers in the city have been banned from wearing headscarves since 2005.
Berlin’s Senator for Justice, Lena Kreck, has proposed abolishing the neutrality law altogether. She told RBB the abolition of the law is “in keeping with the times”.
“We live in an immigrant society, and state neutrality is not achieved by banning individual items of clothing. It is important to push back stigma and racism,” added Kreck.
“A woman with a headscarf will be able to perform a wonderful civil service in the same way as a person without a headscarf.”
But several court rulings in recent years underlined that a blanket ban on headscarves constitutes discrimination, and violates the religious freedom guaranteed by the constitution.
The Senate Department for Education, Youth, and Families told school directors that they should comply with the recent court rulings.
The lifting of the ban came after the education administration confirmed that the state of Berlin had paid over 22,000 euros in compensation to women who were not hired as teachers because they wore a headscarf, following a written question from Left Party MP Elif Eralp.
She is glad that the “unlawful practice” of the headscarf ban is coming to an end after the Berlin Senate administration’s complaint to the Federal Constitutional Court was rejected.
According to the Berlin daily Tagesspiegel, nine prospective teachers have complained since 2016 that they were not hired because they wore the hijab. In 2020, the Federal Labour Court upheld the claim of a rejected woman. At the beginning of February, the state of Berlin failed in its constitutional complaint before the Federal Constitutional Court.
