Germany: Court rules girl must attend swimming class, allows burkini

Germany: Court rules girl must attend swimming class, allows burkini


A court in the western city of Muenster has ruled that Muslim girls at elementary schools in Germany must attend mixed swimming classes with boys, rejecting a request from the parents of a nine-year-old girl for her to be excused from the lessons.


The parents from the industrial city of Gelsenkirchen told the school authorities that they lived strictly to the teachings of the Koran, adding that they found mixed swimming "immoral".


The administrative court said, however, that the girl could protect her modesty by wearing a full-length bathing suit dubbed a "burkini."


It also dismissed complaints that the the bathing suit hindered  swimming because of excessive absorption, endangering their daughter's life.


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The issue has also divided the Islamic community into conservatives and liberals who say the custom should change in Germany.


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Source: Deutsche Welle (English)

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