Muslim parents in Switzerland will have to send their children to take swimming lessons with a mixed group, including boys, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled.
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Switzerland won the case at the ECHR, which said the Swiss authorities were right in giving importance to enforcing the full "school curriculum" and the children's "successful integration" into society, BBC reported.
Although the ECHR acknowledged that religious freedom was interfered, the judges on the panel said the ruling does not violate any laws.
The case was taken to the court by two Swiss nationals of Turkish origin from the city of Basel who were against the Swiss directives and did not want to send their daughters to mandatory mixed swimming classes. The Swiss education officials, however, said the girls who reach the age of puberty could choose to not attend the mixed classes. The girls in question had not reached puberty.
When the parents refused to obey the directives in 2010, they were ordered to pay a combined fee of €1,300 "for acting in breach of their parental duty". The parents then said the fine and the treatment meted out by the officials was in violation of article nine of the European Convention on Human Rights. The article nine deals with the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.
The ECHR considered the parents' arguments and agreed that the refusal to exempt girls from attending the mixed classes amounted to interference with the right to freedom of religion. However, the court also said the law designed by Switzerland was to "protect foreign pupils from any form of social exclusion".
The ECHR also added that the nation was free to formulate its own education system in adherence with its traditions and values.
