A Christian school has made a landmark decision to amend its strict uniform policy after it discriminated against a young Sikh boy because he wore a turban.
Melton Christian College in Brookfield, Melbourne, was found to have breached the Equal Opportunity Act by a Victoria court in September after not allowing Sidhak Singh Arora, then aged five, to attend school wearing a patka – a child’s turban.
Sidhak’s parents and the school released a joint statement which said the uniform policy has been changed ‘to allow exceptions where genuine medical or religious grounds exist’.
Five-year-old Sidhak (pictured) was banned from wearing his turban at Melton Christian School
Sagardeep Singh Arora (pictured left) fought on behalf on his young son believing he was denied a basic human right because the school wouldn’t allow him to wear his ‘patka’
The young boy will now be able to attend Melton Christian College in the beginning of the 2018 school year wearing his turban.
‘MCC regrets the difficulties that took place with respect to the enrolment and the family is grateful to the school for the amendments it has made to the uniform policy in order to welcome Sidhak to the school,’ the statement read.
Sidhak’s parents, Sagardeep Singh Arora and Anureet Kaur Arora, tried in 2016 to enrol their son at the school before the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission intervened in the case.
During the VCAT hearing, Melton Christian College argued its decision was lawful under exemptions to the Equal Opportunity Act.
VCAT ordered the school and parents to negotiate an arrangement to resolve the situation.
‘We are very pleased that religious freedom … is alive in Victoria,’ Mr Arora (pictured) reportedly said in a statement
Sidhak is enrolled to begin school at Melton Christian College (pictured) at the start of the year and will be attending school with his cousins
The ruling found ‘MCC’s uniform policy, in so far as it prohibits head gear of a non-Christian faith, could be described as ‘openly discriminatory”.
Mr Singh Arora fought on behalf on his young son, Sidhak, believing he was denied a basic human right.
‘We are very pleased that religious freedom … is alive in Victoria,’ Mr Arora reportedly said in a statement.
The school’s uniform policy was described in court as ‘openly discriminatory’ which prompted the move for other educational institutions to re-examine uniforms.
However, the Christian school reportedly argued their uniform policy was a ‘level playing field’ which promoted equality.
During the VCAT hearing, Melton Christian College (pictured) argued its decision was lawful under exemptions to the Equal Opportunity Act
Sidhak was enrolled to begin school at the college at the start of 2017 however the school’s uniform policy did not accept his head covering.
David Gleeson, principal of MCC, previously claimed that several Sikh students attended school but none were given an exception to wear the religious head covering, ABC reported.
Mr Gleeson likened the situation to a child who likes to wear a New Balance cap but is not permitted because anything additional to the uniform was not acceptable.
‘I believe students should be allowed to practice their religion and should be allowed to wear their article of faith,’ Mr Arora previously told ABC.
‘I was very surprised in an advanced country like Australia, they are still not allowing us to wear patka in the school,’ he said.