Calm returns to LAUTECH’s school after hijab crisis

Two days after a crisis broke out on the use of hijab at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) International School in Ogbomosho, Oyo State, normalcy has been restored in the school.

Our correspondent, who visited the school yesterday, reports that academic activities have resumed without hindrance.

On Monday, over 50 female students wearing hijab on their school uniform were barred from entering the school premises; others were forced to remove the Islamic veil before they were allowed into the school.

But the matter was resolved after a peace meeting between Muslim pupils’ parents, the school management and security agents as well as other stakeholders.

The parents, who said they had waited for several years to ensure that their children were allowed to use the hijab, urged the school management to expedite actions on the matter.

They advised the school authority to consider the development as an emergency situation that should be treated with expediency.

The parents, under the auspices of LAUTECH Staff School and LAUTECH international college, Ogbomoso, Muslim Parents’ Forum, expressed grievances about the failure of the school management to address Muslim parents early enough.

In a communique issued to reporters in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, after a peace meeting with stakeholders, the parents argued that “the school process is a continuum and nothing should retard the ongoing efforts of the committee that has been put in place to address the issue of hijab”.

Those at the meeting were: the Chairman of the Governing Board (LAUTECH International College, Ogbomoso); the Chairman of the Governing Board (LAUTECH Staff School); the Chairman of Ogbomoso Parapo; the Chairman of the Parents’/Teachers’ Association (PTA), LAUTECH Staff School and the Chairman of PTA, LAUTECH International College, Ogbomoso.

Also there were the Chairman of LAUTECH Security Committee; the Director of State Services (DSS) in Ogbomoso North Local Government Area; the Head Teacher of LAUTECH International College, Ogbomoso; the Headmistress of LAUTECH Staff School; representative of the LAUTECH Public Relations Unit and representatives of Muslim Parents.