Press release of the Swiss Free-thought Association (ASLP)
On 28 February 2026, in the name of the fight against anti-Muslim racism, the Swiss Socialist Party set out in a resolution its new stance on freedom of religious belief and its public expression, such as the wearing of headscarves by female teachers in the classroom within the compulsory state education system, in the public sector.
Indeed, this resolution, adopted by the Party’s Congress, claims that teachers in the primary and secondary sectors of the Swiss public education system should be permitted to wear the Islamic headscarf in the classroom across all cantons.
Anticipating that individuals might come to demand, in the name of other individual freedoms of belief and religion in Switzerland, the wearing of other conspicuous religious symbols in primary and secondary state schools across all cantons should this resolution become federal and cantonal law, the Swiss Association for Free Thought wishes to reiterate some fundamental points regarding the issue of the headscarf and the wearing of conspicuous religious symbols in compulsory education and the civil service.
It clearly states a firm position against this resolution.
This statement by the ASLP was sent to various media outlets and organisations in Italian-speaking Switzerland (Ticino), French-speaking Switzerland (Romandy) and German-speaking Switzerland on 15 March 2026.
Press release (in French and German)
