QUEBEC — A Muslim student in
Quebec was told by her instructor that she couldn’t take a test unless she
temporarily removed her hijab.

The incident occurred two weeks ago
at College de Maisonneuve.

School spokeswoman Line Legare told
media outlets that a biology teacher asked the young woman to
partly pull back her Islamic scarf so he could make sure she wasn’t wearing
headphones.

The young woman refused because she
didn’t want to show her male teachers her ears. She instead told her instructor
he could touch her ears through her hijab to ensure she wasn’t wearing
headphones.

Legare said the teacher felt
uncomfortable doing so and told her she couldn’t take the exam that day.

The school is in discussion with
the student to find a new date for her to take the exam.

Legare said to
her knowledge the student hasn’t filed a formal complaint and is instead
looking to come to a reasonable agreement with the institution.

“Whether the student had a tuque, a hat, or lots of hair,” Legare said, the teacher had written in his course outline he would ask students to show him their ears, a policy she said was condoned by the biology department.

The incident at
the college in Canada comes just weeks after a similar incident transpired in
the U.S.

A Muslim student
in a Burqa in Georgia was told by her teacher that she wouldn’t be able to
attend class at Georgia State University, because she couldn’t properly be
identified.

That case was
also resolved by school administrators. The student was quickly told she would
be able to return to class wearing her attire.