I was in the city today for a Teachers Federation meeting for beginning teachers. Me and My friend were having lunch at a kebab shop during the break and I happened to look at yesterday's Daily Telegraph. The cover story "TWO SETS OF RULES - This scarf is fine but try wearing one of these to school and see what happens..." (close-up of a girl; mabe Yasamin and next to it, a Bulldog scarf). So provocative and stinking of prejudice! To compare an expression of faith to a trivial fan-fare! I HATE THE TELEGRAPH! MAY IT GET BANKRUPT AND DISAPPEAR!

If you didn't have time or didn't feel like realing the emails, here are some extracts:

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IN the 1960s, women burned their bras in protest to establish women's rights. In the 1970s, they took to the streets en masse and marched against the Vietnam war.
Last week, a smaller protest was fought and won by a Sydney schoolgirl who put her education on the line in defence of her Muslim faith.
Yasamin Alttahir, 17, launched a personal campaign for religious freedom after she was told by her school that she should not wear her mantoo -- an ankle-length gown -- to classes.

School uniform policy:
* Decisions about school uniforms should be consistent with occupational health and safety, anti-discrimination and equal opportunity legislation
* A school's uniform policy should take into account the diverse nature of the student population in the school and not disadvantage any student
* Economic, personal, social and cultural factors affecting students and their families must be considered when deciding on items of uniform. Other considerations, such as body shape or religious requirements, should be taken into account in making a final decision on the design and fabric of school uniforms Source: NSW Department of Education and Training website

Religious freedom and a schoolgirl's battle, 16/05/05

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Principals fear students will now try to flout school uniform rules in up to 2250 schools across the State, The Daily Telegraph has learned.
School heads expressed serious concern yesterday about the case of Yasamin Alttahir, 17, who clashed with Auburn Girls High School over the wearing of a mantoo, an ankle-length religious tunic.
One of the authors of the state's uniform policy, Secondary Principals' Council president Chris Bonnor, said the controversy had left school heads confused.
``Now how many other students will put their hand up [for changes to their uniform ?'' he said.
``How will the department help that school to draw the line?''

TWO SETS OF RULES - This scarf is fine but try wearing one of these to school and see what happens... 17/05/05

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And how in future will other ``cultural considerations'' be evaluated? What if a pupil insists on his right to attend school wearing the orange robes of a Buddhist monk? Or the girl who practices Wicca and wants to wear a pointy hat and carry a toad?
OK, those examples may be somewhat extravagant. And we are a multi-cultural society, so the department's uniform guidelines spell out the need to be sensitive to the cultural norms to which some pupils may be expected to adhere.

Commonsense and conformity 17/05/05

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THROW out your dictionaries, they have been rendered meaningless by the craven cowardice of the Carr Government in the face of political correctness run riot.
The word ``uniform'', which most dictionaries describe as a ``prescribed identifying set of clothes for the members of an organisation, such as soldiers or schoolchildren'', has been stripped of meaning by NSW Education Department bureaucrats keen not to offend a 17-year-old Auburn schoolgirl who wishes to wear a religious robe to her state school.
It is difficult not to have some admiration for Yasamin Alttahir's courageous stand. She believes in her religion and wishes to wear a mantoo, an ankle-length tunic.
The problem, however, is that she attends a state school which, until the weekend, had a uniform dress code which did not include mantoos. Now the uniform dress code has been tossed out.

Uniform fury over cowardly cover-up 17/05/05

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All these are extracts from that stinky Telegraph. Let me know what you think.