By NNN-Bernama
Melbourne : Sikh students would be allowed to carry small daggers to school under a plan that has outraged teachers and principals, a report said.
A Victorian parliamentary committee inquiry into uniforms found all schools should accommodate clothing or other items that are religiously significant, including the hijab in state schools.
The Education and Training Committee report recommended that schools should work with the Sikh community to allow male students to carry a kirpan — a small, curved ornamental steel dagger carried by all initiated Sikh men, the Australian newspaper said.
The committee found there were concerns from principals and teachers about students carrying the kirpan — which is hidden under the school uniform — but the item was important to the Sikh community.
Victorian Association of State Secondary School Principals head Brian Burgess told the newspaper kirpans should not be allowed in schools.
“It is potentially very dangerous and should not be brought to school,” he is quoted as saying. “If it was misused, it could hurt kids. And it may not be the students that bring it to school but others who know about it and misuse it.”
Burgess said other weapons were not allowed on school grounds and the kirpan should not be the exception.
The kirpan, carried in a sheath and worn on a strap, is one of five articles of faith that initiated Sikh males have to carry. It is not allowed to be used as a weapon, the committee was told by Sikh leaders.