Schröder Supports Partial Ban on Headscarves

German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has come out in support of banning teachers from wearing headscarves in public schools. Since Germany is a secular state, employees in the public sector, including teachers, should not be allowed to wear headscarves, Schröder said in an interview with the newspaper Bild am Sonntag. The chancellor added that students on the other hand could not be forced to take off their headscarves. Each of Germany’s 16 federal states should deal with the issue individually, Schröder said. Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg have already put in place a ban on headscarves for teachers after Germany’s constitutional court allowed this recently. Other states have said they plan to follow suit.