Religious belief is no excuse for refusing to shake a teacher’s hand, the authorities said in a statement on Wednesday, reversing one school’s controversial decision to grant exemptions for Muslim students wary of touching the opposite sex.
“A teacher has the right to demand a handshake,” they said in a statement.
The school’s original decision to find a compromise and exempt the two brothers from the custom received a considerable media attention and sparked a heated national debate in the country last month, making the school turn to regional authorities to settle the matter.
The boys, whose father is an imam, said their faith did not allow them to shake hands with a woman who was not related to them.
The final decision was also made because “the public interest with respect to equality between men and women and the integration of foreigners significantly outweighs the freedom of religion.”
The cantonal authorities said if the two, aged 14 and 15, continue to refuse to shake hands “the sanctions called for by law will be applied.”
There are around 350,000 Muslims in Switzerland, which has a population of eight million.
Author
