Policy Brief No. 5. The Wearing of the Islamic Headscarf in State Schools: School Autonomy, Religious Freedom and the Principle of Statutory Regulation

• Pages: 41-51
• Author: Ana María Vega Gutiérrez

TARGET AUDIENCE

Education policy makers, technical sta in regional and national public administrations, legislators,

legal practitioners and management teams in state schools.

TARGET AUDIENCE

Education policy makers, technical sta in regional and national public administrations, legislators,

legal practitioners and management teams in state schools.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Various public schools in Spain are using their Rules of Organisation and Functioning (ROF) to ban

the wearing of the Islamic headscarf by female pupils. This practice restricts a fundamental right—re-

ligious freedom—through sub-statutory regulations that do not meet the constitutional requirements

of statutory reservation, necessity and proportionality. The pupils aected are faced with an unac-

ceptable dilemma: their right to education or their religious identity. The absence of clear regulatory

guidelines leads to inconsistent responses across schools and autonomous communities, legal un-

certainty, and growing social and judicial conict. This document analyses the problem, explains its

signicance, reviews the applicable legal framework, and sets out ve recommendations for public

education authorities to ensure the eective exercise of pupils’ religious freedom on an equal footing

and within the framework of positive secularism enshrined in the Spanish Constitution.

KEY POLICY QUESTION

Can the internal regulations of state schools prohibit the wearing of the Islamic headscarf, or does

such a restriction require a formal law that meets the constitutional requirements of necessity and

proportionality?

41

GENDER EQUALITY AND RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN THE 2030 AGENDA:

TEN POLICY BRIEFS

Francisca Pérez-Madrid (coord.)

Dykinson, Madrid, 2026

POLICY BRIEF

THE WEARING OF THE ISLAMIC HEADSCARF IN STATE SCHOOLS:

SCHOOL AUTONOMY, RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND THE PRINCIPLE OF STATUTORY REGULATION

Ana María Vega Gutiérrez

Full Professor of Law, Universidad de La Rioja

1

THE POLICY

PROBLEM

In various state schools, internal rules or interpretations of the Regulations on Orga-

nisation and Functioning (ROF) are being applied that prohibit the wearing of head

coverings. Although formulated in an apparently neutral manner, these provisions are

used to prevent female pupils from wearing the Islamic headscarf. The conict arises

when a sub-statutory rule, adopted in the exercise of the school’s organisational auto-

nomy, is used to restrict a fundamental right without a formal law authorising it or a

rigorous proportionality test.

This practice places the pupils concerned in an unacceptable dilemma: choosing bet-

ween their right to education and the exercise of their religious freedom and personal

identity. It directly aects Muslim girls and teenagers who wear the headscarf as an ex-

pression of their religious, cultural or identity-related convictions; their families, who

see their right to have their daughters access state education without renouncing their

identity compromised; and the educational community, which is embroiled in conicts