The government initially approved the use of Hijab and directed the schools to reopen on Monday, March 8, 2021.
In a statement on Monday, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education and Human Capital Development, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, directed the schools to remain shut.
Read Also: Kwara Govt Approves Use Of Hijab In All Public Schools
The statement partly reads;
The government, therefore, directs school children and teachers in the affected schools to remain at home until the contrary is announced. The government remains committed to fairness, pluralism, and respect for the law and rights of every citizen at all times.
The affected schools are;
C&S College Sabo Oke
St. Anthony Secondary School, Offa Road
ECWA School, Oja Iya
Surulere Baptist Secondary School
Bishop Smith Secondary School, Agba Dam
CAC Secondary School, Asa Dam road
St. Barnabas Secondary School, Sabo Oke
St. John School, Maraba
St. Williams Secondary School, Taiwo Isale
St. James Secondary School Maraba.
The government, in February , ordered the temporary closure of 10 grant-aided secondary schools in Ilorin, the state capital, pending the resolution of the controversy in the schools.
The schools are C&S College, ST. Anthony College, ECWA School, Surulere Baptist Secondary School, Bishop Smith Secondary School, CAC Secondary School, St. Barnabas Secondary School, St. John School, St. Williams Secondary School and St. James Secondary School.
Muslim leaders had insisted that students should be allowed to use the head covering in accordance with the Constitution but their Christian counterparts said such negates the heritage of the missions, who built the schools.
However, after several peace meetings, the state government approved the use of hijab in all public schools in the state and ordered the reopening of the affected schools schools on March 8.
The state government said it had considered the submissions of all the major interest groups on the matter.
However, the decision did not go down well with the Christian leaders who kicked against it openly, insisting that they will not allow such in their mission schools.
They have also urged Christians “to occupy the schools” when they reopen today in protest of the government’s resolution.
Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church also vowed not to allow the use of Hijab by female students in its schools.
The military government, in the 1970s, took over these schools from the missions who founded them.
These schools, now grant-aided, had their names changed afterwards but some, like those in Kwara, retained their names.
The Christian missions in Kwara State had twice challenged the government’s ownership of the schools in court but lost the suit at the high and appellate courts.
Undaunted, the missions comprising different Christian denominations, have appealled to the Supreme Court.
