Hamburg prohibits use of facial coverings in schools.
Since 2017, Bavaria and Lower Saxony have disallowed covering one's face at school. Hamburg is now adopting the same stance. If a student in Hamburg fails to adhere to this rule, they will encounter consequences.
From early June, pupils in Hamburg are no longer allowed to attend classes with their faces covered. The law has been enacted by a coalition of the red-green party, the CDU, and the AfD and was passed in mid-May. This applies to all school-related events.
The law is based on a verdict from the Hamburg Administrative Court in 2020. The court determined that a 16-year-old Muslim student couldn't be barred from wearing a face veil at school, as there wasn't a legal basis for it. At that time, there were around ten instances in Hamburg where girls wearing face veils attended school.
In a letter sent to all schools, the school authority outlines how to handle the new regulation. It is considered unacceptable to wear a niqab or any other full face veil. However, wearing a headscarf that exposes the face from the eyebrows to the lower chin region is not forbidden. Wearing a mask for medical reasons, such as during the Coronavirus pandemic, is not prohibited. According to the letter, "it can be assumed that there are medical reasons if a medical mask is consistently worn and not apparently just worn for situational reasons."
Possible Penalties
The school authority emphasized that the new regulation should not result in social isolation or separation of students. Hence, individual students who are affected should be given educational and pedagogical support. Moreover, dialogues with their parents are recommended. The authority stated that if there are repeated violations of the law, educational and disciplinary measures could be taken or a fine might be imposed.
For school-going students, it could mean a written warning, exclusion from a school excursion, or exclusion from a class for up to ten days. For students who are no longer enrolled in compulsory education, expulsion from school is feasible. Additionally, a fine might be imposed, as "anyone who deliberately flouts the school attendance regulations is acting illegally." This could also apply to the child's legal guardian.
Face coverings in school education is a commonly debated topic in Germany. Given that each state is responsible for education, the issue is regulated differently across the country. Bavaria and Lower Saxony were the first to prohibit full face coverings in 2017 through modifications to their school laws.
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In light of this policy, Hamburg joins Bavaria and Lower Saxony in banning face coverings in educational institutions, affecting all school-related events. The newly enacted law in Hamburg, passed by a coalition of political parties, has resulted in pupils being barred from attending classes with covered faces since early June.
