World Hijab Day: Beyond the hijab in schools

I went to a Muslim school Alhamdulillah and so wearing hijab was a non-issue, in fact it was mandatory, until I came across a case where a girl had dropped out of school in Kakamega county because the school could not allow her to wear hijab while at school; I was shocked. But the real situation was worse when I learned that actually most of schools in Western part of Kenya did not allow girls to wear hijab at school, it was unbelievable!

I made it my business to reach out to all stakeholders marking World Hijab Day, on February 1, which is an annual event that was created to encourage women of all religions and backgrounds to wear and experience the hijab. It is also a day to celebrate diversity and stand up against discrimination. The event was started by one woman named Nazma Khan, and it has spread over 150 countries.

The goal of World Hijab Day is to create a more understanding and tolerant world for Muslim women. There is often a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding surrounding the hijab, and this day provides an opportunity for non-Muslim women to learn more about it. It is also a chance for Muslim women to feel empowered and proud of their choice to wear the hijab.

Three years ago, I started campaigns creating awareness on importance of allowing our girls wear hijabs at school. We engaged religious leaders, both Muslims and Christians, we engaged teachers, education officers and law makers. In 2023 we were in vihiga county, 2024 Bungoma County, 20205 Busia County and now 2026 we are in Kakamega county. This year World Hijab Day was at Khungoyokosi Muslim Primary school, Kakamega county.

I was elated the other day when an Imam called me that he was passing by a Christian school and saw a school girl wearing hijab playing at the school, he couldn’t believe it, some time back it was impossible, but we say Alhamdullillah the three years we have been creating awareness has not been in vain. When our children learn to wear hijab early enough be it at school or madrassa, they will definitely have no problem wearing hijab when they are grown-ups.

However, during these campaigns, I have realized it is more than just the issue of hijab. As we continue constructing mosques and wondering why there are no people praying in those mosques, our children are converting to other religions because we have pushed them to schools sponsored by other religion. It is high time we reconsidered how we want to move our religion forward. Our brothers and sisters from other religion are investing in both faith and education, while we are stuck with faith at the expense of education. Muslims have not only refused to invest in our Muslim schools, now we are taking our children to other religion schools and complaining how they have refused to allow our children wear hijab yet they have their traditions and cultures.

It is high time we made our schools attractive because if the schools’ infrastructure are attractive, then we will not have these issues of hijab wearing at school. Alhamdulillah every constituency in Kakamega county has a Muslim school, all the four counties in Western, Vihiga, Bungoma, and Busia have Muslim schools. However, we have neglected these schools to the extent that recently Bo Yusuf Muslim Primary School was about to be closed because they didn’t have basic things like toilets. Nambacha and Khungoyokosi Muslim schools were being almost taken over by our brothers from other religion because we have not been supporting these schools.

Poor infrastructure in our schools has been among the factors encouraging our children to convert to other religions. In Western Kenya has some of the best performing schools, the likes of St Marys, St Peters, Friends Kamusinga, Butere girls, Mukumu Girls, unfortunately none is a Muslim school. And because you want better education for your children you take them to these schools, and so for four years this girl is not allowed to wear hijab, not allowed to pray, not allowed to fast, remember these are teenagers and environment determine our behaviors, so by the time they are finishing school with their A’s , they have been influenced to convert to other religion.

If you walk around and see any school that looks like a ramshackle then it must be a Muslim school, if you are looking for students who are scoring D’s, just go to a Muslim school, you will get more than enough. We have seen teachers fighting to be transferred to certain schools, but you will rarely see a teacher even Muslim teachers fighting to go to a Muslim school because of course our Muslim schools are not attractive.

Mumias Boys Muslim Secondary School, the oldest Muslim school in Western Kenya started in 1965, more than 60 years later, it lacks good learning facilities which can facilitate studies yet we expect them to perform same as those who have been exposed to modern learning facilities.

Let us invest in our Muslim schools by putting up attractive infrastructure including, modern classes, dormitories, sufficient toilets, boreholes, desks, computers, perimeter wall, libraries, laboratories, to give our Muslim students the dignity they have.

My Muslim brothers and sisters if we have quality infrastructure in our schools, we will get quality students who will end up getting quality jobs. let’s save our religion through schools.

We can start by supporting Khungoyokosi Muslim primary school in Kakamega County with decent desks, school perimeter wall, toilets, computer lab or water borehole.

The author is a Commissioner with the Commission on Revenue Allocation (CRA)