A city college has been forced to drop a controversial ban on Muslim face veils.
Birmingham Metropolitan College had said students must remove all hoodies, hats, caps and veils while on the premises so that they were easily identifiable.
The UK prime minister, David Cameron, backed the decision, with his spokesman saying he believed educational institutions should be able to "set and enforce their own school uniform policies".
But the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, said he was uneasy about the ban and believed the bar had to be set "very high" to justify any prohibition on wearing a veil.The necessity to comply with national regulations, examination board requirements and applicable legislation will remain an overriding priority in all circumstances, as will the need to ensure that effective teaching and learning methodologies are applied.
"We have listened to the views of our students and we are confident that this modification to our policies will meet the needs of all of our learners and stakeholders."
The Labour MP for Birmingham Ladywood, Shabana Mahmood, welcomed the decision.
She said: "This change in policy is enormously welcome. The college has made a wise decision to rethink its policy on banning veils for a group of women who would have potentially been excluded from education and skills training at the college had the ban been enforced."
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