'Primary school did not discriminate with class photo'
The public Maria Montessori School in The Hague did not discriminate when the school photographer came by in 2015 on the first day of the sacrificial feast, an important Islamic festival. Muslim students were free because of the party and could therefore not have the class photo.
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The Hague court recently ruled that. The school is happy with the verdict.
Two sisters from an Islamic family could not be included in the class photo because they were free because of the sacrificial feast. The parents of the girls thought this was discrimination and demanded compensation.
Compensation
The subdistrict court initially agreed with the parents and awarded damages of 250 euros per child. By having the school photographer come on a day of the sacrifice feast, especially the students with an Islamic background are the victims and 'limited in the possibility of using that service', according to the subdistrict court.
The Haagse Scholen school foundation, which includes the primary school, appealed against the decision and was right this time. In the verdict, the court takes into account the alternatives offered by the primary school so that the children would still be in class photos. There has been an 'unintentionally unfortunate outcome of a planning', according to the statement the court. The school itself also wanted all students to be in the picture and found out too late that the sacrificial feast was a day later than the school thought. The appointment made with the school photographer could then no longer be rescheduled.
Compensate
The school then, according to the court, done enough to still ensure that the children could be photographed. For example, the school has brought forward the photographer's visit to eight in the morning. The deputy director, who is an amateur photographer, also took new class photos in October 2015. These photos were given to parents free of charge. In November, the school photographer paid another visit for individual photos of the two children.
The school has done enough to make up for the planning error. Therefore, there is no discrimination, according to the court.
Happy
"We are happy with the verdict and clarity," the school says a statement know. 'Nevertheless, it is regrettable that it has been necessary to have to go through such a process,' said the school.
