East Flanders province dismissed teacher Hadija Amajoud after she refused to remove her headscarf at work, believed to be the first case in Flanders of a teacher being explicitly sacked for wearing one.
Belga reported the decision on Monday, and Amajoud confirmed it herself. “I am losing not only my job, but also my income, my security and my permanent appointment. Everything I have built up has suddenly gone,” she said.
Amajoud has worked in provincial education since 1 September 2022 and teaches at Kiempunt Campus Assenede, a special primary school. She speaks Dutch well, and her performance was never evaluated negatively.
She received a permanent appointment on 1 January 2024.
Related News
- New penal code, fewer homeless shelters, back to school: What changes in Belgium on 1 September?
- Mandatory mobility budget could cost Belgian state up to €1 billion
- Religious signals can disadvantage Belgian job candidates, study finds
Amajoud was already wearing her headscarf when she started at the school. On 27 June 2024, the province amended its staff regulations.
Since 1 September 2024, those rules have included an explicit ban on visible religious and philosophical symbols, except for teachers of religion or philosophy-related subjects.
For Amajoud, the dispute is also about the limits of an employer’s authority. She questioned how far an employer can go in restricting a teacher’s personal freedom. She described the province’s interpretation of neutrality as “purely political”.
Earlier this year, the East Flanders provincial executive introduced neutrality rules banning pupils in provincial education from wearing headscarves. Staff compliance with the personnel regulations is also being monitored strictly.
Amajoud is likely to be the first teacher in Flanders to lose her job explicitly because she wears a headscarf.
