By Bruce Asemota
The much talked- about controversial suit filed against a number of schools by students for banning the wearing of veil is slated to start today before Justice Ebrima Jaiteh of the High Court in Banjul.
The plaintiffs, most of them students including minors and other interest groups, are keen on keeping the matter in court despite efforts by the ministry of basic education to settle it out of it.
The defendants or respondents are Gambia Senior Secondary School, St Therese Upper Basic School, Revened JC Faye Memorial School, Grace Bilingual School, St Peters Senior Secondary School, Charles Jow Memorial Academy, Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education and the Attorney General and Ministry of Justice. The plaintiffs said by forcing them to remove their veils in school, the learning institutions have violated their fundamental human rights and subjected them to harassment. They are seeking an order by the court to declare the actions of the schools’ authorities illegal and also demanded a compensation of D20 million.
