North Aceh’s new bylaw separates male and female students

The north Aceh district of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD), a predominantly Muslim province in Indonesia that has implemented sharia law since 2001, has passed legislation ordering separate classrooms for male and female students from secondary school level through university.

The bylaw, or qanun, was approved on April 30 by district legislators.

According to Fauzan Hamzah, who heads the legislation committee of the district’s legislative body, the law calls for separate classrooms for male and female students in junior high school and senior high school, as well as universities. The order, he said, was in line with sharia regulations.

“Separation will help prevent students from social intercourse which violates the ethics and the sharia law,” he told local news website kompas.com

The qanun also prohibits unmarried men and women from riding motorbikes together and bans traders from selling inappropriate clothes. Additionally, it bans keyboard and karaoke performances at wedding ceremonies and other activities held in schools, universities and offices.

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News category: Asia Pacific.

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