Gabriel Attal gave an update on Monday on the new back-to-school ban: the abaya, a long traditional covering dress worn by some Muslim students. The Minister of National Education indicated on Monday that 513 establishments were “potentially concerned” by the question of the abaya for the start of the school year, out of 59,650 schools. “We worked a lot with the National Education teams, also with the Ministry of the Interior on this subject, to identify the establishments in which we know that a priori this situation will arise”, commented the minister on RTL.
“There are a little over 2,000 staff who are trained on these issues that we have positioned in the establishments for which we know that this subject will arise”, he further specified, citing “inspectors of academies, personnel secularism and values of the Republic of rectorates”. The Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, sent a message to the police to underline “the sensitive nature of this return to school” on attacks on secularism in schools.
A reflection on the school uniform
Asked about the idea of a ban on religious symbols for parents accompanying school outings, the Minister of Education indicated that he was not in favor of it, referring to “the distinction on what happens in the school and what happens outside of school. Gabriel Attal also indicated that he would “announce in the fall” the “experimental methods” on the school uniform, which he wishes to put in place.
“I’m not sure it’s a silver bullet that will solve all the school’s problems. But in any case, I think it deserves to be tested”, he underlined. This Monday, around 12 million students are going back to school.