MONTREAL - A Quebec commission on human rights recommended yesterday that Islamic headscarves be allowed in private schools because they are already worn in public schools. "Private schools should accommodate people with different needs, including religious [needs]," the government advisory group concluded in a report. The decision follows a complaint by a Muslim student in Montreal in 2003, that she was barred from wearing a hijab at a private school she attended. The commission, which was tasked with defending Quebec's Charter of Rights, based its judgment on "reasonable accommodation," a principle that tends to favour equality of persons with special needs. However, in a letter published yesterday, commission president Pierre Marois said the decision does not reflect on broader issues facing Quebec's secular society. "In itself, reasonable accommodation does not address the number of questions raised by religious diversity," he wrote, noting these accommodations "do not confer rights to religious groups."