2023-08-28 10:39:12
The French Education Minister, Gabriel Attal, has reopened an old debate in French society about the limits of freedom in schools. Attal has announced that he will ban the use of the abaya, the Islamic female robe, in educational centers in the country. Secularism is not a restriction, but a freedom”, Attal declared in an interview with the French channel TF1, where he spoke of a “necessary and fair” rule. Although he did not give an exact date, the minister confirmed that he intends to to discuss the issue with educational managers before the start of the school year on September 4.
“We will no longer be able to wear the abaya to the school. The directors of the schools are, on many occasions, on the front lines of these problems, these issues of secularism, and we have to help,” he added. “Secularism is the freedom to emancipate oneself through school,” insisted the minister, who considers that going to school wrapped in an abaya is “a religious gesture, intended to test the resistance of the Republic to the secular sanctuary that school should be.”
“I want to provide you with clear rules at the national level in the coming days,” Attal said about the ban on wearing this tunic that covers the entire body except the head, although on many occasions women complete it with a scarf to cover themselves practically completely. .
This announcement comes a few days after the conclusions of a note from state services revealing an explosion of what they describe as “attacks on secularism” in schools. According to this document, last year 4,710 reports were made in this regard, more than double that of the previous year. The report highlights that attacks on secularism have become much more numerous in France since the assassination of Professor Samuel Paty, who was beheaded by Abdullakh Anzorov, a young man of Chechen origin, for having taught caricatures of Muhammad in class.
The Abaya Rally in DubaiALI HAIDEREFE
For almost a year, school principals have been grappling with the task of managing the clothing of students covered in abayas (traditional long dresses in the Middle East, worn over other garments) or qamis (long robes for men). Teachers ask for “clear instructions” to know if these outfits are a manifestation of a religious affiliation, contrary to the 2004 law. Said law maintains that “in public schools, colleges and secondary schools, the use of posters or clothing using in which the students ostensibly demonstrate a religious affiliation”.
The French Council of Muslim Worship declared in June that the abaya “is not a Muslim religious sign” and stressed that “in the Muslim tradition an article of clothing of any kind is not itself a religious sign.” In November, a National Education circular listed the abaya as well as scarves and long skirts as clothing that can be prohibited if “worn in such a way as to conspicuously display a religious affiliation.”
#France #bans #wearing #Islamic #robe #abaya #schools