Religious Symbolism - Should it be public?

This matter has raised it head again, with the news that a teaching assistant has been suspended, pending enquiries, for wearing a full head veil during lessons along with the news that a BA member of staff has been put on unpaid leave until she is willing to wear her cross necklace under her clothing, rather than displaying it in public.
Why should religion be bought into the workplace, but also, why should it be criticised. Every member of our society has a right to express their beliefs and feelings, but they should also have to accept and tolerate other peoples rights and beliefs. As long as their beliefs, feelings and public displays of faith do not affect their ability to do their job, or contravene specific company dress code then it really shouldn't matter.

With regards to the teaching assistant, who's job it is to help pupils who speak english as a second language, I feel that it should be down to the board of governers, the teachers and the parents of pupils at the school to decide diplomatically and fairly as to whether veils and other religious artefacts (crosses, hijabs, etc.) are an acceptable part of the dress code within the school environment. It could be argued that it is beneficial in our multi-cultural society that our children are exposed to diversity of religion and beliefs, but this diversity could also cause disruption and discomfort for some within the school environment, and may cause further discrimination and divide between different cultural practices.

The BA staff member who wore a cross necklace over her clothing should not cause offence and in most cases, probably, would not. However, it is BA policy that jewellery on chains should be worn under clothing - this would, obviously, include crosses on chains. In this case, it would seem, that the member of staff is in violation of existing uniform policy, a policy which allows the wearing of turbans and hijabs. I am sure that if christian dress code required the wearing of certain visible items then that tolerance would be extended to include those items, but the wearing of a cross is a religious choice, not a requirement.
However, the wearing of a hijab is required by the Muslim faith, as a symbol of modesty that is a strong part of islamic faith, although the hijab is not required to cover the face (unlike the full head veil worn by the teaching assistant - indicating that this would be a personal choice rather than a religious one, and thus could be moderated to a standard hijab, unless of course she follows a particulary strict version of her faith, which requires a full head veil).

If a person wants to wear a cross on religious grounds, or a hijab, or turban then they should be allowed to do so without fear of ridicule, persecution or prejudice. My only reservation in this matter is where the wearing of such items could be considered a health or safety risk to the wearer or their colleagues, i.e. a worker in a factory should not wear loose fitting clothing as it could snag in machinery they may operate. A tie, a hijab and a turban could all come into this category, and thus should not be worn on those grounds. However, an office worker who never enters the shop floor would be fine to wear a tie, hijab or turban without risk to personal safety or to the safety of others (as long as they stay clear of the paper shredder :-) ) so in that instance it would be fine.

At the end of the day this, like most religious and cultural matters, will be discussed and shuffled around with no conclusion being reached. While this is happening the media, and politicians, will jump on the band wagon to gain public exposure but no changes will be made.
Change will only come from acceptance and tolerance between the various cultural and religious faiths, and will most likely start at the bottom of the pile, among the general population. The politicians, media, extreemists (and they occur in every faith and culture) and higher members of faiths have their own agenda's which prevent progress being made by them. It is down to us little people to make the changes to make a better, more tolerant, society for all.