BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 18. Azerbaijan has
launched new guidelines governing clothes in public colleges,
reinforcing the secular character of state schooling beneath
amendments to the Regulation on Basic Training signed by President
Ilham Aliyev in July 2026.
The measures, carried out by authorities rules adopted
in September and October, have introduced renewed consideration to a
basic query about Azerbaijan’s political and social mannequin:
how does a rustic with predominantly Muslim inhabitants stability
spiritual freedom with the secular ideas governing its public
establishments?
The reply lies in Azerbaijan’s constitutional framework, which
separates faith from the state whereas guaranteeing freedom of
conscience.
What do the brand new guidelines say?
On September 21, the Cupboard of Ministers adopted Decision No.
309, updating the principles governing college uniforms. The rules
prohibit clothes parts that violate the uniform necessities or
are inconsistent with the secular character of normal
schooling.
On October 6, comparable necessities regarding skilled
apparel and the secular nature of schooling had been prolonged to
academics in public colleges.
Neither the amendments nor the rules explicitly point out
the hijab. Nevertheless, spiritual head coverings are usually not included in
the authorised college uniform, and the brand new necessities have been
utilized in observe to stop ladies and academics carrying hijabs
from attending courses in public colleges.
The excellence is necessary: the measures concern gown codes
in state-run instructional establishments, slightly than establishing a
nationwide ban on carrying the hijab. No equal restriction has
been launched for on a regular basis life exterior public colleges, and
spiritual instructional establishments stay exterior the scope of
these specific school-uniform guidelines.
Why is secularism central to the controversy?
Secularism is just not merely a coverage choice in Azerbaijan; it
is explicitly enshrined within the nation’s Structure.
Article 7 defines Azerbaijan as a democratic, law-governed,
secular and unitary republic. Article 18 establishes the separation
of faith from the state, ensures that each one religions are equal
earlier than the legislation and stipulates that the state schooling system should
be secular.
These provisions set up the constitutional foundation for the
authorities’s place that public schooling ought to function
in response to widespread guidelines slightly than spiritual necessities.
Beneath this method, secularism doesn’t essentially imply the
exclusion of faith from society. As an alternative, it implies that
spiritual establishments and beliefs don’t decide the working
ideas of the state, whereas residents retain their proper to
freedom of conscience.
The federal government and the ruling social gathering have introduced uniform
necessities as a method to keep a typical instructional surroundings
and stop spiritual, ethnic and socioeconomic distinctions from
turning into sources of division amongst college students.
On this context, college uniforms serve a objective past
look: they’re meant to strengthen the precept that
public schooling is a shared civic establishment by which college students
are topic to the identical requirements.
Does the coverage quantity to a normal ban on the
hijab?
No. The excellence between restrictions in public colleges and a
normal prohibition is central to understanding the measures.
Chairman of the Caucasus Muslims Board Allahshukur Pashazadeh
has publicly acknowledged that there is no such thing as a nationwide ban on the hijab in
Azerbaijan. The difficulty, he stated, issues college uniforms in state
instructional establishments.
The Ministry of Well being has additionally rejected claims that comparable
restrictions had been being launched in hospitals, describing a
purported order to that impact as faux.
The federal government’s place is that the college guidelines derive from
laws and the constitutional precept of secular schooling,
slightly than from an try to ban spiritual observe
all through the nation.
How does this match Azerbaijan’s broader
identification?
Azerbaijan is a rustic, with Muslims accounting for
roughly 96% of its inhabitants, in response to out there
estimates. But its state establishments function inside a secular
constitutional framework formed by the nation’s historical past and
reaffirmed after independence.
This mix distinguishes Azerbaijan’s mannequin: spiritual
traditions stay an necessary a part of social and cultural life,
whereas the state maintains a proper separation between spiritual
authority and public administration.
The brand new college guidelines mirror the federal government’s effort to protect
that distinction in one of the vital delicate areas of public life:
schooling.
On the similar time, the coverage raises broader questions on how
secular ideas ought to be utilized alongside particular person rights,
together with freedom of faith and conscience. The constitutional
framework establishes each commitments, making their sensible
implementation an necessary check of how the state balances
them.
Finally, Azerbaijan’s method rests on the precept {that a}
Muslim-majority society doesn’t require spiritual guidelines to manipulate
its public establishments. By reaffirming the secular character of
state schooling, the federal government is looking for to protect a mannequin in
which spiritual perception stays a matter of non-public freedom, whereas
public colleges function beneath widespread, legally established
requirements.
