Before the All Saints holidays, a teacher from the Antoine-Bourdelle high school in Montauban reflected on one of her students about wearing an abaya, a traditional garment. Their exchange at the end of the lesson, filmed without the teacher’s knowledge, was then broadcast on TikTok by the student who felt that his teacher’s words were humiliating, explained to France Bleu the girl’s lawyer who filed a complaint for discriminatory remarks. After filing complaints and opening an investigation, the establishment and the professor find themselves today, without any proven threat, under police protection. A situation taken very seriously by the rector of the Toulouse academy, Mostafa Fourar, who answered questions from 20 minutes.
When did you hear about what happened at Bourdelle high school?
The wearing of the abaya is a phenomenon that began at the end of last year but has gained momentum this back to school. At the Bourdelle high school, we counted a total of twenty students out of more than 2,500 who wore abayas before the All Saints holidays.
The difficulty is that the wearing of the abaya is not prohibited by law, unless it is worn with the deliberate intention of giving it a religious meaning and therefore a claim of religious identity. As soon as I was informed of this increase in power, I physically moved around the establishment on October 3 to measure the extent of the phenomenon and I drew the necessary conclusions, namely that it a procedure had to be put in place.
What does this procedure consist of?
It is an academic procedure. A circular has just come out of the ministry, it was necessary that with this protocol put in place with the head of the establishment, we had to make sure that the pupils who wore it, did so because it is a fashion or because behind there has a religious approach. This procedure, which includes a dialogue phase with the pupils and their families, has been launched. Some students wore it alternately, sometimes they arrived in jeans, other times with the abaya. On the other hand, the headteacher identified four students who wore it systematically.
Before the holidays, the period of dialogue with the families ended, and during the holidays we informed the parents that their children were no longer admissible in the establishment by wearing the abaya. Of the four young girls, three gave up wearing it, they understood that the disciplinary procedure could lead to an exclusion. Like what firmness can also pay. Only one girl very clearly claimed to wear the abaya and refused to take it off. We did not need to go as far as the exclusion procedure since she decided on her own to resign, she is 17 years old and is not required to attend compulsory schooling. She is no longer at the facility.
Following the implementation of this measure, there was an appeasement: the dialogue pays with the families, the threat of sanction also for some. Things are back to normal. This young girl nevertheless tried to mobilize her comrades by distributing leaflets calling on her comrades to demonstrate on November 9 in front of the establishment by wearing the abaya. It was a flop.
This young girl broadcast on social networks her conversation with her teacher. What measures have been taken at this level?
We have been notified of the distribution of this video on social networks. I caught the headteacher’s attention, asked him to meet the teacher and encourage her to file a complaint. I granted him functional protection to accompany him in these steps. The headteacher made an appointment with the parents of this student to inform them that the headteacher and the teacher had filed a complaint against X for illegal recording and dissemination on social networks.
Do you carry out a particular watch on social networks?
The history of the Toulouse Academy has led us to have competent people on these subjects and a particular organization. We have a civic center which brings together a certain number of actors, in particular an academic “values of the Republic” team. In this cell, there is a watch on social networks and we are in contact with the interministerial cell on radicalization. We can have alerts from all sides. On this case, we have done work with the prefecture of Tarn-et-Garonne which allows us to have information in the environment of the establishment.
The “values of the Republic” academic team went there last week. For what purposes?
As the young girl had announced a demonstration in her leaflet, we did not take it lightly. On November 9, about twenty people from this cell intervened to meet all the students of Première and Terminale to work with them on secularism and the values of the Republic. It is very important to demonstrate with the students that secularism is there to protect them.
What do you think of the complaint filed by the girl?
She filed a discriminatory complaint after posting the video on social media. If she really felt discriminated against, there were other ways to let it be known than to broadcast it on social networks. I think that this young girl did not measure the seriousness of this situation, the recording in itself is illegal, but especially its dissemination on social networks, is in itself a threat. There is no proven threat to the professor to my knowledge, but we have taken all the necessary precautions to protect her and the establishment.
The ministry reported 720 reports of attacks on secularism in France in October, a figure on the rise. What about the Toulouse Academy?
Toulouse is one of the six academies in France with the most reports. These wearing abayas have also been encountered in other establishments. Except that each time, the question was settled by the heads of establishments on the basis of a dialogue with the families and the pupils. The only event where we went so far as to threaten to set up an exclusion procedure was that of Bourdelle, the only event where a student resigned to allow herself to wear the abaya because she did not accept take it off to study.
Are these reports increasing?
Compared to last year, yes, they are increasing and it is mainly related to the wearing of the abaya. Even if some students consider, including this young girl, that their intention is not to undermine the values of the Republic but that it is their way of dressing. Some students may not have seen a risk in it, it is moreover a garment that one finds in fashion stores, it all depends on the meaning one gives to wearing it.