President Tokayev says schools must remain a secular space

President Kasymzhomart Tokayev on Thursday called for strict adherence to secularism at education establishments, weighing in on the heated debate around allowing girls to wear hijab at school.

“According to the constitution, Kazakhstan is a secular state. This principle must be strictly observed everywhere, including in the education sphere,” Tokayev said at a national congress of teachers.

“We must remember that school is first of all an education establishment, where children get knowledge … I think it would be right to allow children to make their [religious] choice when they grow up, once they have formed their own worldview,” he said.

The hijab debate tends to flare up in Kazakhstan, with varying intensity, with the start of every new school year in September.

Public opinion on conservative Islamic dress has been growing increasingly negative in the country, with many seeing it as an assault on Kazakhs’ own cultural and spiritual traditions. 

The government has refrained from introducing a ban on hijab at school, but local authorities and school administrations bar girls wearing hijab from classrooms.  

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