English Playgroup In Trouble In Kuwait For This Demand
A preschool English teacher was told to remove her hijab if she wanted to be hired by a school in Kuwait.
The 23-year-old British woman applied for a job in Kuwait’s the English Playgroup. After an interview, she received an email from a school official saying that her new job depended on whether she was OK with teaching without a hijab on.
Fouzia Khatun shared a screenshot of the alleged email on her Instagram page. The email was sent by Caroline Brooks, a human resources employee from the English Playgroup, a prestigious education company dedicated to early childhood education, with over 25 schools throughout the country.
Brooks wrote, “The customer (parents) do not want their children taught by covered teachers. It is an English school.”
She continues, “if this isn’t acceptable to you I wish you every success. This is s a non-negotiable.”
Khatun’s post has received nearly 2,000 likes and 1,000 comments.
The teacher wrote, “I applied for a job in Kuwait where I felt I would easily fit in due to same religious beliefs and Islamic mind of thoughts, where I thought being a hijabi would be an honour rather than an accepted dress code, where I was hoping to feel free and liberated, only to go and be asked to take off the one piece of clothing that made me want to move to Kuwait in the first place.”
I find it disgusting that you think it’s acceptable to ask your employees to remove such a personal and important thing for the sake of appearing physically acceptable to parents, when in fact you should be demonstrating to your students’ acceptance of all kinds of people and presenting this with your varied choice of employee.”
She continued, “There is enough discrimination against female Muslims from non-Muslim countries, it’s extremely sad to see that your school in a Muslim country like Kuwait also demonstrates this kind of discrimination and frankly such a superficial judgmental ethos! I am sorry that you have judged the capability of a teacher based on a piece of clothing that covers my hair.”
