In France, schoolgirls are no longer allowed to wear abayas to class – the Ministry of Education has counted exactly how many have tried. As many are now trying to circumvent the ban, calls for school uniforms are becoming louder.
The morning after the first day of school, the abaya ban is on all news channels in France. On the information channel BFM TV, Minister of Education Gabriel Attal announces an initial assessment: Yesterday, 298 schoolgirls with abayas showed up for class across the country, he explains. The teaching staff at the affected schools spoke to the young women, explained the new rule to them, explained the reasons for the ban and tried to convince them. “Most of them bowed to the rule,” assured Attal, adding that almost a quarter of the 298 schoolgirls, namely 67, refused to take off their loose robes.
The first voices – for example from schoolgirls in Lyon – show how differently the abaya ban is accepted. Student Iris, who showed up for class in a black abaya, told France 2 television that she had tried to avoid members of the school’s board of directors. Eventually she had to take off her robe. Classmate Shainez, on the other hand, was approached by the teacher even though she tried to do everything right. The student had come to school in a long white skirt with an oversized white sweater. “The teacher asked me if I thought about how I dress in the morning. I said yes of course and that I really tried to be compliant with my outfit.”
uniform clothing instead of uniform
The case of Shainez shows that the abaya ban will continue to cause debates between students and teachers in schools in the future. Therefore, the call for a school uniform is now loud. Education Minister Gabriel Attal, but also President Emmanuel Macron want to allow schools to try out the school uniform in a pilot phase.
What that could look like is completely open, Macron explained last night in an interview with the YouTuber Hugo Travers on his channel, which is particularly popular with young people: “There is not only the uniform, but also the uniform clothing. You could say, for example: You all put on jeans, a t-shirt and a jacket.”
The end of the debate? Hardly likely
Starting today, the State Council will deal with the abaya ban. An association for the protection of the rights of Muslims called him to stop the ban after all. But it is unlikely that this administrative court will reverse the ban.
What is certain, however, is that the debate about enforcing the strict secular law will continue. Because if the school uniform should actually catch on, opponents and supporters of the uniform look will attack each other. For some, the school uniform would be an attack on them liberte, the freedom of the individual. For the others it would be the only true means, the egalitarian, to guarantee equality.