November 16, 2010
Stefan Kölliker, the Swiss People’s Party (SVP) director of education for St. Gallen, has recently met with Hisham Maizar, a representative of the Federation for Islamic Communities in East Switzerland, concerning the education council’s decision in August 2010 to call for the banning of headscarves in schools.
Despite Maizar’s efforts, Kölliker has stated that he has no intention to change his position on the issue. Maizar called the decision “disproportionate,” and “fully politically motivated,” due to the low number of cases involving headscarf-wearing students. Nevertheless, he told Kölliker that he would gladly speak further with him concerning questions related to Islam and schools, while Kölliker stated that it was “conceivable” that he might accept such an offer.
