Across Women's Lives

Students and teachers in Québec have returned to school for the first time since a law banned teachers and public employees in positions of “authority” from wearing religious symbols — this means no headscarves, Sikh turbans, Christian crosses or Jewish skullcaps.The law, which passed in June, is not a complete ban and included a clause that applies the law only to new hires or those who change jobs.So, Maha Kassef returned to the classroom last week wearing her headscarf. She currently works three days a week at a French-language elementary school in the Montreal region.“It’s always like the first two weeks, you just feel like you've been run over by a truck,” she joked.Related: As asylum-seekers trek north, Canada examines border loopholeBut, watching her 3-year-old play at the end of a long day, she says she feels extra anxiety this year over the new law.“That's the gray area that I don't know where I am,” she said.The rules are so new she has questions she can’t answer: Is she protected by the grandfather