One of Britain’s biggest colleges on Friday dropped a ban on Muslim face veils after thousands of people signed a petition against the rule.
Birmingham Metropolitan College said on Facebook it would change its policy to allow “individuals to wear specific items of personal clothing to reflect their cultural values”.
The college had earlier said it would require “the removal of hoodies, hats, caps and veils so that faces are visible”, a policy that won support from Prime Minister David Cameron.
It would in effect have banned the niqab, a face veil worn by some Muslim women which covers everything except the eyes.
Cameron’s spokesman said he believed educational establishments should be able to “set and enforce their own school uniform policies”.
But some 9,000 people signed a petition co-ordinated by the National Union of Students (NUS) Black Students’ Campaign against the policy, while hundreds of students had planned to protest against the ban on Friday.
“This ban is a complete infringement on the rights to religious freedom and cultural expression and is a clear violation of a woman’s right to choose,” said NUS black students’ officer Aaron Kiely.
