Bangkalan, Madura – The regional coordinator of the Madura Ulema Association in Bangkalan has come out in support of a proposed bylaw that would require female students to wear Islamic veils.

"We agree with the proposal that female students aged 9 and above must wear the hijab or Muslim clothes to school," Imam Buchori Cholil said in Bangkalan on Wednesday.

He said girls were already biologically mature by the age of 9 and thus must cover their bodies with Muslim clothes. "It is in line with religious norms," he added.

Local Nahdlatul Ulama leaders have floated the idea of integrating the requirement into a regional bylaw on education. "I think local council members have no reason to refuse Islamic veils or the hijab for girls in schools," Buchori said.

He added that wearing the hijab could prevent vice. "Wearing the hijab would restrict the girls' movements, thus they would not encourage people to act" on sexual impulses, he said.

The local legislative council is deliberating a bylaw on education. Afif Mahfud, a council member, said earlier the council would consider a proposal by local NU leaders to make Islamic veils mandatory for female students.

"Once the bylaw is approved, the ruling on Islamic veils must be enforced in full," he said.

It was unclear, however, if the bylaw would cover non-Muslim female students.