UK Minister Wants Veiled Teacher Fired

"She is denying the right of children to a full education by insisting that she wears the veil," Woolas said.

"She should be sacked. She has put herself in a position where she can't do her job," Woolas, whose brief includes race relations, told the Sunday Mirror weekly.

Headfield Church of England junior school in Dewsbury has suspended Aishah Azmi on the ground that face-to-face contact was essential in her role as a bilingual support worker.

"She cannot teach a classroom of children wearing a veil," said Woolas.

"She is denying the right of children to a full education by insisting that she wears the veil."

Azmi, 24, told BBC radio Saturday, October 14, she had only insisted on wearing the face veil in the company of male colleagues but had accepted to remove it while in class with her pupils.

She insisted that the garment, which left just her eyes exposed, had never been a problem for her pupils.

Azmi said students had "never complained" and there had never been an issue about children having difficulty in understanding her talk through the garment.

"If people think it is a problem, what about blind children? They can't see anything but they have a brilliant education, so I don't think my wearing the veil affects the children at all."

Most of the seven-to-11-year-old pupils at the school are of Pakistani or Indian origin.

The issue of Muslim face cover was thrust into the spotlight over a week ago when former foreign secretary and leader of the House of Common Jack Straw revealed that he asked Muslim women visiting his constituency office to show their faces.

He argued that the veil was a barrier to good communication and a "visible statement of separation and difference."

Reckless

"It's unprecedented - in fact quite extraordinary - that a minister can be calling for a sacking of a school classroom assistant," said Lord Ahmed.

Woolas accused Azmi of discriminating against men by refusing to remove her face veil in their presence.

"If she is saying that she won't work with men, she is taking away the right of men to work in schools," he said.

"By insisting that she will wear the veil if men are there, she's saying: 'I'll work with women, not men," Wools insisted.

"That's sexual discrimination. No head-teacher could agree to that."

The umbrella Muslim Council of Britain said Woolas should not have interfered, reported the BBC News Online.

"This is an extraordinarily reckless intervention," said MCB media officer Inayat Bunglawala.

Woolas also came under fire from Labour peer, Lord Nazir Ahmed.

"It's unprecedented - in fact quite extraordinary - that a minister can be calling for a sacking of a school classroom assistant," he said.

Lord Ahmed added that the minister should be concentrating on "discrimination in the Muslim community" rather than attacking it.

Azmi's lawyer has called for Woolas to withdraw his comments, which he warned might influence the classroom assistant's imminent employment tribunal.

Kirklees Council, the school's local administrative body, confirmed that Azmi's case had gone to an employment tribunal and that she would remain suspended until it had reached a verdict.

Nick Whittingham, of Kirklees Law Centre, described Woolas's comments as "ill-advised" and called for him to withdraw his demands.

"Azmi is very well able to carry out her role as a teaching assistant providing support to pupils who speak English as a second language," he said.

"She is able to do this effectively while wearing the veil. She has demonstrated in a number of interviews that she can communicate effectively while wearing the veil."

Cross

"Frankly I think British Airway's order for her not to wear her cross is loopy," Hain said.

In a faith-related development, Cabinet Minister Peter Hain rubbished a decision by British Airways to send home a worker for wearing a Christian cross.

"Frankly I think British Airway's order for her not to wear her cross is loopy," the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland told the BBC.

Nadia Eweida, a check-in worker at Heathrow Airport, had refused to cover up her cross necklace under a scarf, which the airline said contravened its policy that jewellery and religious symbols on chains should not be on display.

"I don't understand it, I don't think anybody understands it and that is my view," said Hain.

Hain is the most senior politician to join the growing chorus of condemnation of BA.

Eweida claims she was effectively "forced" to take unpaid leave after refusing to remove the cross.

"I will not hide my belief in the Lord Jesus. British Airways permits Muslims to wear a headscarf, Sikhs to wear a turban and other faiths religious apparel.

"Only Christians are forbidden to express their faith. I am a loyal and conscientious employee of British Airways, but I stand up for the rights of all citizens," she told Evening Standards.

Eweida, 55, who has been with BA for seven years, plans to sue her employer for religious discrimination.

The airline is now facing a call for Christians to boycott it.