Pune: Pimpri-Chinchwad School Sparks Row Over Student Asked to Remove Burqa Before Exam
Pune: Pimpri-Chinchwad School Sparks Row Over Student Asked to Remove Burqa Before Exam
A controversy erupted at a school in Pimpri-Chinchwad after a Class 10 student alleged she was asked to remove her burqa before entering the exam hall. Following police intervention, she was allowed to appear for the SSC exam wearing the face veil.
The incident took place on Saturday at CMS School, Nigdi Pradhikaran. The student, from Beena School, arrived at the exam centre with her father around 10:15 am. She claimed that at 10:30 am, teachers at the gate asked her to remove her burqa before entering. She refused and insisted they could verify her identity without her removing it.
“When they denied me entry, I called my father, who then alerted the police,” she said. She also mentioned that the incident cost her 20-25 minutes, which she could have used for last-minute revision.
Her father, Mehboob Shaikh, alleged that school authorities initially told his daughter to leave the burqa outside the exam hall. “She had no problem with the checks, but they insisted she remove it. When I arrived, I asked them for any government guidelines regarding this, but they could not provide any. We then called the police, and only after that was she allowed to write her exam,” he said.
He further claimed that the school authorities threatened not to allow his daughter to appear for Monday’s exam. However, CMS School chairman T P Vijayan denied this.
“Our teachers only asked her to show her face for identity verification, as per guidelines. No one asked her to remove the burqa. This controversy was unnecessary,” Vijayan said. He added that she would be allowed to take the rest of her exams without any issue.
