PQ would bar young children from wearing ‘conspicuous religious symbols’ in class

The Parti Québécois if elected will extend secularism rules to children, barring elementary school students from wearing hijabs, kippahs and other “conspicuous religious symbols” in the classroom.

Announced Sunday by PQ Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, the change is part of a package of proposals aimed at boosting state secularism. Polls show the PQ is most likely to form a government following the Oct. 5 election.

“A school is about children being children and mixing and having fun together,” St-Pierre Plamondon said Monday, adding children shouldn’t be separated “by religious beliefs at such a young age.”