West Sumatra Provincial Government Affirms There Are No Regulations Requiring Non-Muslim Students To Wear Hijab

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JAKARTA - Spokesperson for the West Sumatara Provincial Government, Jasman emphasized that his party does not have a regulation requiring non-Muslim students to wear the hijab and dress Muslim or Muslim at school.

This was followed by the circulation of information about a non-Muslim student who was summoned by the school in Padang, West Sumatra, because he did not follow school regulations which obliged his students to wear a head scarf.

"The West Sumatra Provincial Government does not make regulations or policies so that non-Muslims wear hijab. There is no such thing," said Jasman in a written statement received by VOI, Saturday, January 23.

Rasman explained that there used to be a dress code for Muslim women every Friday from the Padang City Government. Then, when the authority of senior high school (SLTA) moved to the West Sumatra Provincial Government, the regulations in Padang City had not been evaluated.

"When the authority to administer high school moved to the provinces, we have not had time to evaluate this rule, because there have been no problems so far," said Jasman.

With the case at SMKN 2 Padang, the West Sumatra Provincial Government will immediately evaluate all dress codes and ensure that no more problems like this will occur.

"It is a school policy that will be evaluated thoroughly in the future. The West Sumatra Provincial Government through the Education Office will evaluate it," he said.

For information, Elianu Hia's facebook account uploaded a video containing a non-Muslim student calling for not wearing a hijab at SMK Negeri 2 Padang.

Elianu, who claims to be the student's father, explained that they are non-Muslims, so they feel uncomfortable wearing the hijab. However, the school is adamant about carrying out this obligation because it is the school's policy.

This caused criticism from many parties. Then, the West Sumatra Education Office then clarified. In the clarification, the principal of SMK Negeri 2 Padang, Rusmadi, officially submitted his apology.

"As the Principal of SMKN 2 Padang, I would like to apologize for all the mistakes of the staff in the field of student affairs and counseling in applying the rules and dress code for students," said Rusmadi in a press conference on Friday, January 22 evening.