French authorities will ban the use of abaya dresses that some Muslim women wear at school, the education minister said on Sunday, arguing that the garment violates strict French laws on secularism in education.
“It will no longer be possible to wear an abaya at school,” Minister Gabriel Attal told TF1 television, saying he would give school principals “clear rules at a national level” before classes returned across the country. September 4.
The move comes after months of debate over the use of abayas in French schools, where women have long been banned from wearing Islamic headscarves.
The right and far right lobbied for a ban, while the left argued that it would violate civil liberties.
There are reports that abayas are being used more and more in schools and that there are tensions within the school between teachers and parents over this issue.
“Secularism means the freedom to emancipate oneself through the school,” said Attal, describing the abaya as “a religious gesture, intended to challenge the republic’s resistance to the secular sanctuary that the school is supposed to form.” .
“When you walk into a classroom, you shouldn’t be able to tell the students’ religion by looking at them,” he said.
A March 2004 law banned “the use of posters or clothing by which students purportedly indicate a religious belief” in schools. Think of large crosses, Jewish skullcaps and Islamic scarves.
Unlike headscarves, abayas – a long, loose garment worn in modest attire to conform to the Islamic faith – have so far been in a gray area with no outright bans imposed.
The announcement is the first major move by Attal, 34, since he was promoted this summer to handle the highly controversial Education portfolio.
Together with 40-year-old Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, Attal is seen as a rising star in French politics, who could play an important role after Macron’s resignation in 2027.
Source: DN
