Muslim girl forced to take Christian ethics, school grants exemption only after six months
穆斯林女生被迫讀基督教倫理科 校方拖半年始豁免
The annual report of the Office of The Ombudsman mentioned a religion-related complaint. A Muslim girl enrolled in a Band 1 secondary school with a Christian background. After the school year began, her parents requested, on the grounds of “religious differences”, that their daughter be exempted from Christian ethics classes, but the school refused. The parents then complained to the Education Bureau, which intervened and strongly advised the school to consider the student’s welfare and religious needs. The school eventually reached a compromise nearly six months later, exempting her from attending the subject. The Office of The Ombudsman ultimately found the complaint against the Education Bureau unsubstantiated, considering the time taken by the Bureau to negotiate with the school and the complainants to be “acceptable”.
申訴專員公署的年度報告，提及一宗涉及宗教的投訴。一名信奉伊斯蘭教的女生選讀一間有基督教背景的 Band1 中學升學，開學後女生家長以「宗教差異」為由，要求豁免穆斯林女兒修讀基督教倫理科，但遭校方拒絕。家長再向教育局投訴，局方始介入事件，強烈建議該中學應該考慮涉事學生福址和宗教需要，校方最終在近6個月後妥協，豁免不用上該科的堂。申訴專員公署最終認為，該宗針對教育局的投訴不成立，原因是認為教育局與校方及投訴人磋商的時間屬「可以接受」。