“There is no place for religious symbols.” Emmanuel Macron justified this Monday night the ban imposed by his government to ban the use of the abaya at school. “School is free, secular and compulsory”, declared the President of the Republic, assuring that “it does not stigmatize anyone” on this issue of secularism in school.
“Who stigmatizes? The people who push the abaya,” Emmanuel Macron continued before the cameraman Hugo Décrypte, evoking a “religious choice” to describe the use of this traditional clothing.
“I am in favor of all the children of the Republic being in school,” the Head of State also stated.
“We have to discuss, explain”, affirmed the President of the Republic, adding that “the school must continue to be a neutral place”. Emmanuel Macron also welcomed the decision made by Gabriel Attal a few days before the start of the school year: “it was clear and I congratulate him for it.”
Be “ornery and clear”
For the President of the Republic, “we cannot act as if we lived in a country where the issue was appeased. If we are not clear at the national level, it is the teachers and directors of establishments who are fired with pressure on the tone” .
“We must protect them because otherwise we say ‘there is no wave’ and let challenges to secularism take hold and the law is not respected,” Emmanuel Macron said.
Although he considers that the issue of the abaya at school “is not the most important”, the president nonetheless asks to be “intractable and clear” on this issue. “It is respectful, it is benevolent, it is secularism,” concluded Emmanuel Macron.
Source: BFM TV
