In 2008, the German Islam Conference published an insightful study: Some 3.5 percent of Muslim schoolgirls in Germany don't participate in co-ed swimming classes on religious grounds, provided it is offered at their school. The absolute numbers are tiny.
Nevertheless, the nationwide significance attached to the question of whether Muslims should be allowed to opt out of school swimming is large. Germany's federal administrative court in Leipzig was tasked with clarifying this on Wednesday. The Helene-Lange-Gymnasium, a high school in Frankfurt, required a Muslim girl to take part in swimming class. She had the option, according to the logic of the Culture Ministry, to wear a full-body bathing suit known as a "burqini." Her parents filed a complaint. It was a case in which the educational mission of the state had come into conflict with religious freedom.
The court in Leipzig has now passed judgement: It is reasonable to require Muslim schoolgirls to swim together with boys, assuming she has the option of wearing a burqini.
They were right to do so. » | A Commentary by Dietmar Hipp and Maximilian Popp | Thursday, September 12, 2013
