French ban on wearing abaya in schools draws applause and criticism

PARIS, Aug 28 (Reuters) – French conservatives on Monday applauded the government’s decision to Forbid children to wear the abaya.long, loose-fitting robes worn by some Muslim women in state schools, but the move also drew criticism and some ridicule.

France, which has imposed a strict ban on religious symbols in public schools since 19th-century laws removed any traditional Catholic influence from public education, has struggled to update the guidelines to deal with a growing Muslim minority.

The strict brand of secularism, known as “secularism,” is a touchy subject and often quickly causes tension.

“Our schools are continuously put to the test and in recent months violations of secularism have increased considerably, particularly with (students) wearing religious clothing such as abayas and kameez,” Education Minister Gabriel Attal told a conference. press to explain the ban on Sunday.

The leader of the conservative Les Republicains party, Eric Ciotti, was quick to welcome the move, stressing that his group had repeatedly called for it.

But Clementine Autain, a lawmaker for the far-left France Unsubmissive, criticized what she called the “clothing police” and a measure “characteristic of an obsessive rejection of Muslims.”

The school principals’ union SNPDEN-UNSA welcomed the move, saying what it needed above all was clarity, its national secretary Didier Georges told Reuters.

“What we wanted from the ministers was: yes or no?” Georges said of the abaya. “We are pleased that a decision was made. We would have been equally pleased if the decision had been to authorize the abaya.

“We were concerned about a sharp increase in the number of students wearing the abaya. And we believe that it was not our role to referee, but that of the state,” he said, speaking of concerns about the safety of principals.

In 2020, history teacher Samuel Paty was assassinated by an Islamist radical in an attack that struck at the heart of the country’s secular values ​​and the role of teachers.

Sophie Venetitay, from the SNES-FSU union, said it was key to focus on dialogue with pupils and families to ensure that the ban does not mean children are withdrawn from state schools to go to religious schools.

“And what is certain is that the abaya is not the main problem in the schools,” he told Reuters, stressing that the lack of teachers was a much bigger problem.

In 2004, France banned the headscarf in schools and passed a ban on full-face headscarves in public in 2010, angering some members of its 5 million-strong Muslim community.

Less than a year ago, Attal’s predecessor, Pap Ndiaye, decided not to go any further and specifically ban the abaya, telling the Senate that “the abaya is not easy to define, legally… it would take us to administrative court, where we would lose “.

Abdallah Zekri, vice president of the French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM), made a similar point, saying Attal’s decision was wrong.

“The abaya is not religious clothing, it is a type of fashion,” he told BFM TV.

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