Ankara: Female students in Turkey are free to wear the Islamic veil, or the hijab, to class, the country`s Education Minister Nabi Avci has announced.
Avci`s announcement Tuesday came after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan decided Monday to repeal a law stipulating that girls keep their heads uncovered in high school classes.
The move got a negative response from some teachers` unions, which accused the government of trampling on Turkey`s secular values, while other unions applauded the decision.
The main opposition Republican People`s Party said the conservative AKP was trying to distract attention from the country`s economic woes and foreign-policy problems and said the new policy serves ideological rather than educational goals.
Last year, the AKP government authorised female state employees to wear the hijab to work.
