Is religion a threat to universal primary education?

The United Nations (UN) singles out education as one of the most powerful tools in propelling countries to higher levels of development.

In fact, education is ranking second on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This emphasises the importance of this component in the attainment of social and economic transformation of every society.

The goal on education compels countries to ensure that by 2015, boys and girls everywhere, irrespective of their faith, culture, ethnicity or any other considerations, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling.

The Malawi Government recognises the importance of this element in empowering people to actively participate in socio-economic and political development of their societies.

And to affirm its commitment to this goal, the Republican Constitution enshrines an inalienable right of every child to universal primary education irrespective of gender, religion and ethnicity to education.

Regrettably, the achievement of this goal will be at the mercy of innumerable factors, among them religion.

For instance, Miriam, 15, her brothers George, 13 and Fadweck, 10, stand to be deprived of their inalienable right to basic education because they belong to a faith not well recognised and appreciated by education authorities.

The three children-all being children of Ras James Dinesi-were in September 2012 expelled from Makapwa Full Primary School in Thyolo for having dreadlocks, the symbol of their faith—Rastafarianism.

At the time, Miriam was in Standard Eight, George in Standard Six while Fadweck was doing his Standard Three.

This means Miriam was the greatest victim as she could neither prepare nor sit her Primary School Leaving Certificate Examinations (PSLCE) the following year.

“The expulsion threw all my dreams to become a pilot out of the window,” narrated Miriam while fighting back tears of sorrow and disappointment.

She is not alone. In September, authorities at one of the Blantyre-based primary schools refused to admit a 10-year old daughter of Ras Moffat Masamba, Gloria, for similar reasons.

“The head teacher told me my daughter would be admitted after removing the locks, which is against our faith. I have since withdrawn my child from a public school,” said Masamba in an interview on Sunday last week.

Former Ministry of Education spokesperson Lindiwe Chide backed the decisions taken by school authorities at the time, arguing they were simply following guidelines, which aim to encourage uniformity among pupils.

“From these policies and guidelines, we have generic rules and regulations that apply to all schools and some that apply to particular schools as agreed by school management and parents,” said Chide, adding schools reserve the right of admission for pupils.

The tussle between the Rastafarian community and government is coming against a backdrop of another feud involving Muslims and education authorities over the wearing of headscarves (hijabs) in schools.

It took education authorities time to reverse a policy that restricted Muslim girls to put on hijabs while attending classes in public schools.

This scenario confirms what The Jakarta Post had said about Malawi in its recent publication.

The online publication named Malawi among countries whose educational and civil registration systems violate the constitutional right to freedom of religion of people who follow faiths not recognised or appreciated by government.

It is important to note, however, that while schools reserve the right of admission for pupils, policies and guidelines (on dressing and uniformity in schools) are not backed by the law. The Constitution is evidently silent on how pupils ought to dress if they are to attend public schools.

National coordinator for Islamic Information Bureau (IIB), SheikhDinala Chabulika, observed that rather than religion, it is the education policy that poses a serious threat to the achievement of universal primary education in this country.

Chabulika said the education policy is discriminatory to other faiths such as Islam and Rastafarianism.

“Our education policy is a very big block to the achievement of universal primary education in this country. It’s not accommodative to everyone albeit the Constitution guarantees freedom of worship to all Malawians,” he stated.

The IIB boss further explained that such discrimination is what motivated local Muslims to mobilise themselves against selective implementation of policies and regulations.

He asked government to ensure it gives equal treatment to all religions (as guaranteed by the constitution) if Malawi is to achieve its MDG number two.

Civil Society Education Coalition (Cscec) executive director Benedicto Kondowe recommended that educational code of conduct must be aligned to the call for respect of human rights.

Kondowe said government and the aggrieved religious groups must, therefore, reach a compromise to ensure religion does not seem to pose a threat to the achievement of the MDGs.

Statistics from the international consultant of Ancient Council of Nyahbinghi Rastafari and elder of the national council of the Rastafarians in the country, Ras Ray Harawa indicate that Malawi has a population of about 20 000 Rastafarians. Of these, over 2 000 are school-going children.

Out of these, 30 are out of school because they are dismissed for having dreadlocks. Harawa said although the figure may look insignificant, it nonetheless has potential to derail government efforts to achieve MDG goal on education.

“Malawi cannot claim to have achieved the MDG Two when some children are being withdrawn from school based on their faith,” explained Harawa.