Mette Frederiksen will introduce a ban

The government will ban the use of niqab – the face -covering veil – from Danish education. The intervention is done by expanding the existing covering ban, which since 2018 has only applied in public space. Frederiksen now calls a mistake.

– It is not compatible with democracy to suppress girls and women knowing that they must be completely covered, she says.

At the same time, she wants to have prayer rooms removed from the educational institutions. Not by law, but through a clear signal from the government to the educational leaders. According to Frederiksen, ministers Mattias Tesfaye and Christina Egelund will engage in dialogue with schools and universities about a common solution.

The announcements do not fall randomly. They are a direct reaction to recommendations from the Commission for the forgotten women’s struggle, which earlier this year called for action. The Commission was aware of examples of niqab being carried in classrooms – but believed that the scope is in fact unknown.

The prime minister does not have much left over for the presence of the prayers in the education landscape. She estimates that they do not create spaciousness – but rather provides the basis for discrimination and pressure.

The debate on religion and education is not new. But with Frederiksen in the offensive and the government on the road with tangible initiatives, a new phase is now emerging where secularism and value struggle seriously move into the classrooms.