Minister joins Muslim protest of school's hijab ban

The demonstration culminated in Education Minister Woravat Au-apinyakul knocking down a mock "wall of prejudice" with a sledgehammer.

The protesters, led by the Muslim Group for Peace, marched from the Royal Plaza to Government House to hand a letter of protest to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

Mr Woravat received the letter on behalf of the premier.

As part of their demonstration, the protesters built next to Government House a brick wall painted with the word "prejudism", representing the wall separating Buddhism and Islam.

Protesters gave Mr Woravat a sledgehammer and he drove it into the wall.

Mathayom Wat Nong Chok School, in Nong Chok district, has had 17 Muslim girl students. Almost all of them have graduated except for 17-year-old Atitaya Sulaiman, who is in Mathayom 6.

Haneef Yongstar, a lawyer with the Muslim Group for Peace, said Ms Atitaya had been banned from entering the school grounds unless she took off her hijab, or Muslim head scarf. The school imposed the ban on the head scarf during the final semester last year.

Because she refused to do so, she had to be home-schooled by the group and other volunteers. The deprivation of proper schooling resulted in her grade point average slipping to 3.1 from 3.5.