Three ministries of Kazakhstan simultaneously banned wearing the headscarf in education institutions on October 19, Deputy Minister of Education Elmira Sukhanberdiyeva told a special briefing in Astana, according to Ferghana news agency. 

The discussion of common school uniforms was reportedly launched by the ministry of education and science, the ministry of religious affairs and civil society as well as the ministry of justice in response to concerns some of schoolchildren’s parents voiced regarding the violation of common school uniforms in some schools as well as some schoolgirls wearing headscarves during classes.

An information dispatch the ministry of education circulated indicates neither direct nor indirect proselyting of any religion is unacceptable in schools.

Deputy Minister Sukhanberdiyeva told the briefing, “Wearing religious attributes, clothes, headgear (hijabs, yarmulke) is not allowed nor has it been allowed in the past.”

Not even a single Kazakh law prohibited wearing religious attributes and attire until the ministry of education enforced common school uniforms throughout the country based on a decree issued on 14 Jan 2016. Education institutions used to regulate the outfits of schoolchildren in accordance with internal rules.

Several discussions took place on the rights of citizens to wear religious attributes in education institutions. For instance, a scandal broke out in the city of Semey in the autumn of 2015, when a 15-year-old girl was not allowed to take classes at the elite Nazarbayev Intellectual School wearing a headscarf.  Her parents were eventually able to secure permission to attend classes with the schoolgirl’s head covered with a scarf.

No such issues should arise now, the education ministry’s press release reads in part. The new list of permitted on school grounds is quite limited: jacket, pants, dress shirt, regular shirt, skirt and classic blouse (sarafans and turtlenecks for winter).

The representative of the education ministry also shed light on what actions school administrations would undertake in case a schoolchild comes to school wearing a hijab or any other religious attire.

“If a child comes [to school] in religious clothing, their parents will be given a notice [presumably: of violation]. I was often asked, ‘A child comes to school no matter what. Will you drive him out?’ Of course we would not drive that child out. We will invite their parent so they come to school and take off that particular attribute, and the child will carry on with school,” KazInform quotes the deputy minister as saying.

A new wave concern among the authorities is most likely linked with attacks by religious extremists in Aktobe and Almaty this past summer as well as a number of arrests of members of banned religious organisations in Kazakhstan. In addition to this, there are up to 15,000 Salafism adherents in Kazakhstan, according to Galym Shoykin, the chairman of the committee for religious affairs under the Culture and Sports Ministry.

According to findings, the school uniforms are implemented in over 5,000 schools attended by 76.2 per cent of all schoolchildren in the country.