Muslim Students Could Face Heavy Fine In Switzerland Not Shaking Hand With Teachers

Its a tradition in Switzerland for students to shake hands with their teachers at the beginning and end of the day. The practise cannot be exempted henceforth in any case and families of such children who fail to abide to face a fine of up to $5,000.

Earlier this year in April two of the students at a school in the town of Therwil, near Basel, asked for such exemption citing teachings in Islam does not suggested shaking a hand of a woman.

The request was granted and the local school district permitted the two children not to shake hand of either male or female teacher.

The topic became much debated lately after Schweiz am Sonntag newspaper reported the matter.

Justice Minister Simonetta Sommaruga said, “We cannot accept this in the name of religious freedom… The handshake is part of our culture.”

Many debated hand shake shows Swiss tradition of gender equality.

There are about 400,000 Muslims in Switzerland. This means 5 percent of the 8 million population follows Islam religion.

Do share your own views whether Muslim students should be exempted from the Swiss tradition of shaking hands with their teachers with us and fellow readers in the below given comment box.