London school under criticism for questioning Hindu student over ‘tilak’

An advocacy group said the child and his family suffered “significant distress” after he was questioned for putting a tilak at a school in London's Wembley.

A school in north-west London has been accused of religious discrimination after a diaspora advocacy group alleged that an eight-year-old student of the school was challenged for wearing a tilak on his forehead.

Four Hindu parents removed their children from the school following the incident, the group said. (Unsplash/Representational Image)

INSIGHT UK claimed that the child and his family suffered “significant distress” after he was questioned for putting a tilak at Vicar’s Green Primary School in Wembley, news agency PTI reported, adding that four Hindu parents removed their children from the school following the incident.

What the advocacy group said

INSIGHT UK described Tilak as an integral religious observance for many Hindus. “Preventing a child from practising their faith, or making them feel ashamed or intimidated for doing so, is wholly unacceptable in a modern, multicultural Britain," an INSIGHT UK spokesperson was quoted as saying.

“For over 1 billion Hindus worldwide, sacred markings such as the Tilak-Chandlo, Bindi, Tikka, Tripundra etc are integral expressions of faith. To trivialise or mislabel such practices in an educational setting reflects a troubling lack of religious literacy,” the spokesperson added.

Among the reports collated by the group, the school headteacher and governors are said to have displayed a lack of “cultural and religious sensitivity” during attempts at dialogue.

“This was not a good-faith dialogue — it was an imbalance of power, where Hindu religious practices were scrutinised, minimised, and ultimately rejected,” INSIGHT UK claimed.

It has called on the school to review its policies and staff training to ensure compliance with equality and safeguarding laws.

Ealing Council, the local authority in charge of the school rated “outstanding” by the independent Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED), said the school discussed the matter ‘sensitively’ with the parents of the student to understand the reason for putting the tilak.

“Our longstanding school policy asks pupils not to wear visible skin markings including religious ones. We met with the parents of a pupil who was wearing a Tilak-Chandlo on their forehead to discuss the matter sensitively and sought to understand the reason for it," the school spokesperson was quoted as saying.

“We fully recognised the family’s religious beliefs and, in a spirit of conciliation, we offered a reasonable compromise by making an exception to our policy so the symbol could be worn on a less prominent part of the body. This was, unfortunately, rejected by the pupil’s parents," the spokesperson said.

The school went on to reference its recent OFSTED inspections as recognising its inclusive environment where children "thrive".

The spokesperson added: “The school’s governing body also thoroughly reviewed the case and wrote to the parents explaining the school's decision in detail and also offered the reasonable adjustments the school had offered, as well as special religious occasions. Unfortunately, the parents did not accept either of these adjustments.

Denying any form of discrimination, the school said it was "diverse and inclusive” institution, which has pupils from more than 50 language backgrounds, including a significant number of Hindus.

“We have always approached these discussions respectfully, sensitively and thoroughly, which has taken up a considerable amount of time and stress for the school, and its community. As a school, our priority is always the wellbeing of all our children.”

Vicar’s Green Primary School stressed that it values and respects the diverse cultural and religious backgrounds in its community, with its policy designed to “promote cohesion, fairness, equality and a shared sense of belonging while preventing division or disruption within the school community”.

The official UK government classification describes it as a mixed (co-ed) "community school", or a secular state school, that caters to pupils aged between three and eleven.

With inputs from PTI