LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister's Focal Person on Digital Media Azhar Mashwani has rejected the reports that the provincial government was making caps and headscarves mandatory in schools in Punjab.

Taking to Twitter, he clarified that for Muslim children in primary school Nazra Quran classes had been made compulsory and for that specific period the students would be required to wear caps and headscarves.

Earlier in the day Punjab Education Minister Murad Raas had announced that the Punjab Assembly has passed an act, "the Punjab Compulsory Teaching of Holy Quran Act, 2021," to teach Nazra Quran (recitation) to primary students and recitation with translation to the students from 6th to 12th grades for the first time in history.

For this, the minister said that private schools' uniforms should be revised.

In 2017, PTI MNA Nabila Hakim Khan had submitted a resolution in Punjab assembly asking that hijab be made mandatory in schools in the province. An hour after submitting she took it back saying she made a clerical error and meant to say the hijab should not be made mandatory.

Geo saw the bills and reported it was not a mistake but "speculated that the MPA changed the proposal after pressure from other PTI leaders."

This happened after the controversy caused by Punjab Higher Education Minister Syed Raza Ali Gilani who proposed to make hijab mandatory for female students in colleges.

"We are leaving our religion behind, we are forgetting our culture and ethics. Hence, I have made the hijab compulsory for our women and sisters in colleges," he told Dawn.

"I have also made a policy for it, if your attendance falls below 60pc then we will give 5pc attendance to those girls who wear a hijab," he added.

This created a furore on social media and the Punjab government rejected any such plans.

The policy was not implemented as it was not signed by then chief minister Shehbaz Sharif.