Tebogo Bilal Monkhe recites the Lord’s Prayer and sings Christian hymns with his fellow pupils every morning at Eketsang High School in Katlehong.
However, for Monkhe (21), praying has more to do with convenience than with conviction. He has been told by teachers to remove his kaffiyeh from his head, and when he tried to explain that he was a devout Muslim, he was told to choose between staying in class or practising his religion.
Monkhe used to attend a school 100m from his home and now walks three times the distance. At his former school, he had to endure mocking and swearing from pupils and teachers for practising an “alien religion in a black school” where the majority subscribe to Christianity.
“During a cultural day at my previous school, everyone was wearing their cultural clothing. I was wearing my Islamic dress and everyone laughed at me, saying I was dressed like a woman. None of my friends wanted to be seen with me, teachers made me walk from class to class making fun of me. That’s when I decided to change to another school,” he explains.
Monkhe has compromised with his new school and misses Jumu’ah (Friday prayers) because he has to be in class at the same time. The principal of Eketsang, Daniel Sibeko, says the school does not have a policy on religion. “The issue has never been brought up,” says Sibeko, who maintains that his staff would not deny any Muslim student the right to wear a kaffiyeh.
The South Africa Schools Act stipulates there should be “freedom of conscience and religion in public schools”. “The school governing bodies have an obligation to set rules for religious observances conducted in their schools. But attendance has to be free and voluntary,” says Tshepo Mathondlana, representative for the Gauteng Department of Education.
According to advocate Silas Nawa, a member of the national Department of Education’s legislation and legal services, pupils and parents have a choice to either participate in the religious observances conducted in their schools or not. He says the right to hold personal beliefs and values by pupils should be respected and that it is illegal to force anyone to follow a religion he or she does not believe in.
There are schools in Gauteng where measures have been taken to ensure that the religious beliefs of all pupils are respected. “O Lord, bless our school, in our playing together and working together” is an extract from a morning prayer at Fordsburg Primary, which has been edited to ensure that it is not offensive to any religion. “It is not fair to impose any religion on any child,” says principal Ismail Lockhat.
Fordsburg Primary, established in 1954 for the Indian community, started admitting African children in 1988. Since then, the school has been using the “universal prayer” during assembly, and has introduced a subject called life orientation where children are taught about different religions and cultures.
National Department of Education representative Bheki Khumalo said he could not provide information on the policy regarding religion at schools until Minister of Education Kader Asmal makes a statement on this issue in February.