The Strasbourg court, Switzerland, has thrown out an appeal that had been brought by a Muslim couple who said they should be allowed to let their daughters sit out swimming lessons with boys.

The European court of Human Rights, in a ground breaking ruling said that Muslim girls in Switzerland must not be exempted from mixed swimming lessons.

It was not a violation of the pupils’ human rights to make them take part in mixed swimming lessons, the court ruled. In addition, it ruled that schools has a “special role” in integrating young children, especially those from foreign backgrounds.

The couple had appealed after being fined for  keeping their daughters out of mixed-gender, mandatory public-school swimming lessons for reasons linked to their Muslim faith. The ruling comes after Germany’s highest court ruled in December that Muslim girls must take part in swimming lessons with boys. 

The country’s constitutional court said that  girls  who objected to the mixed lessons on religious grounds could wear the so-called “burkini.”

Source: Telegraph news