Principal bans Bahrain students from appearing in newspaper .

Principal bans Bahrain students from appearing in newspaper

Two Bahraini students whose excellent academic performance listed them amongst the top seven in their school were denied the right to have their pictures published in the local press because their principal was outraged by their make-up. According to the two 18-year-old headscarf-wearing girls, who graduated from high school with top honours, the principal did not allow female students to wear makeup. "We were shocked to learn that the principal refused to send our pictures alongside those of the other five girls on the honour roll to the newspapers, saying that we were wearing make up," Ghalia Abdullah Bu Flasa and Lulwa Abdullah Al Sulaiti on Monday told Gulf News.

The two high-performing students, who attended an all girls' school in the predominantly Sunni village of Hidd at the northern tip of Bahrain, said that the principal's decision spoiled the celebration of their long-awaited graduation. Local newspapers traditionally publish the names and pictures of the top graduates, often provided by the education ministry or the schools themselves. Ghalia and Lulwa had scored more than 95 per cent, a score that automatically earned them government places in universities in Britain or the US if they choose to study abroad. The two girls said that their fathers have requested that education minister Majed Al Nuaimi to investigate the incident