– When you enter a classroom, you should not be able to see the student’s religious affiliation. This is what Minister of Education Gabriel Attal says. He is behind the ban, which comes into effect when school starts next week. PREPARING FOR THE START OF SCHOOL: France’s new education minister, Gabriel Attal, holds a press conference to plan the start of school, Monday 28 August. Photo: BERTRAND GUAY / AFP The ban is strongly criticized by the French left. Attal believes that the use of the garment conflicts with the French interpretation of secularity, “laïcité”. It presupposes a strict separation between the public space and private religion. – Secularity means the freedom to express yourself at school, says Attal. He describes wearing the abaya as “a religious act, with the aim of testing the republic’s ability to preserve the school as a secular sanctuary”. TIKTOK TREND: In a video liked almost 100,000 times on TikTok, a French influencer encourages wearing the abaya at school. The French government believes a trend of such videos has led to an increase in the number of violations of the principle of secularity. Photo: Screenshot TikTok / thesupernancy Points to influencers Last school year there was a 300 percent increase in the number of complaints about the use of religious garments in schools, compared to the year before. This is shown by figures from the French government. Since then, the complaints have only increased, says Attal. PROHIBITED: A modern abaya with decorations. Photo: Wikimedia Commons – In recent months, there has been a marked increase in violations of secularity, particularly with students wearing religious garments such as the abaya or kameez. The government sees here a “clear link” to a new trend on social media. They believe influencers are asking school students to break the ban on religious garments. Among other things, it is encouraged to wear an abaya or hijab. – The principals at the schools see that the students argue for wearing the clothes in the same way as influencers on social media do, writes the government in a report quoted by the newspaper Le Monde. – War against religion The ban on the abaya has received strong criticism on the French left. One of the critics is Member of Parliament Clémentine Autain, from the Indomitable France party. She says it is “characteristic of systematic discrimination against Muslims”. Her party leader, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, says the start of school is now characterized by a “new absurd war against religion”. Deputy chairman of the French Islamic Council, Abdallah Zekri, does not understand the ban. – The abaya is a type of fashion, not a religious garment, he says. CONTROVERSIAL CLOTHES: Attal attends a meeting at a high school on the French island of la Reunion on the occasion of the start of school. There he met, among other things, a young woman wearing a hijab. Photo: RICHARD BOUHET / AFP Gray zone garments In 2004, other religious garments and signs such as the hijab, kippa, turban and cross were banned at school. But in the last 20 years, the abaya, a kind of baggy dress, has fallen into a gray area. Supporters of a ban point to the fact that the garment is mentioned in a Koranic verse, among other things: Opponents of the ban, on the other hand, point to the fact that the garment is very similar to other types of skirts and dresses. That is why Attal’s predecessor, Pap N’Diaye, said he would not ban the abaya. – I don’t want to publish endless catalogs of permissible dress lengths, he said last October to Le Monde.
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New clothing ban for French schoolgirls following trend on social media – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
