Ousmane Sonko is a man who does not give up. Caught up in controversy in August after his statement on the headscarf ban in certain schools o, the sidelines of the General Excellence prize-giving ceremony, the Prime Minister does not seem to have given up on the subject. Of the 30 points on the Inter-ministerial meeting on the start of the new school year, the 8th is very explicit on the issue that has stirred up passions: « In order to ensure the conditions for inclusive education, guaranteeing free access to school for all children, without any distinction, particularly with regard to the wearing of clothing, the Minister of National Education must submit, no later than September 27, 2024, an order inviting schools to bring their internal regulations in line with the provisions of the Constitution. »

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How do we achieve this? As soon as the controversy broke out, the diocesan director of the National Office of Catholic Education of Senegal (Odec) in Dakar sent a letter to directors and heads of establishments asking them to update the internal regulations of schools. And to emphasize in his document: “We always want to promote living together in our schools, and in relation to this objective, no one should distract us. So, as we did in 2019, we ask you to update the internal regulations of our schools to protect us against any provocation and possible conflicts on the issue of the veil.”

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Thus, Abbé Diouf asked them, in the internal regulations, to insist « on the behaviour to be prohibited because they undermine living together. » For him, it is good « that all the internal regulations of our schools are clear on the issue and emphasize the educational dimension rather than anything else. It is therefore not appropriate to speak explicitly about the veil in the internal regulations, but about everything that constitutes an obstacle to living together. »

As a reminder, Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, during a meeting with the winners of the 2024 General Competition at the Grand Théâtre national Doudou Ndiaye Coumba Rose in Dakar, threatened schools and institutes that impose bans on girls wearing the veil. The head of government clearly announced that the State would no longer tolerate such restrictions. He insisted that schools that continue to refuse access to veiled students would face severe sanctions.