The French Council of State approved a ban on wearing Muslim clothing in schools, which was announced last week by the country’s Minister of Education, Gabriel Attal, according to a press release on the website of the state body.
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Following the minister’s announcement, Action Droits des Musulmans, an association for the protection of Muslim rights, asked the State Council to reject the ban.
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“Having considered the appeal filed by the association as a matter of urgency, the judge of the State Council dismissed the appeal against the ban on wearing abaya or qamis in public schools, colleges and lyceums. The judge ruled that the ban on wearing such clothes does not constitute a serious or unlawful infringement of fundamental freedoms,” the text of the release stated.
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Thus, the State Council, which is the highest administrative court in France, approved the introduction of a ban on the wearing of Muslim clothing in schools.
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The ban, according to the instance, is not “an attack on privacy, freedom of religion, the right to education or respect for the interests of the child and the principle of non-discrimination.”
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“Wearing the abaya and qamis at school, which increased significantly in 2022-2023, is a religious statement,” the State Council said.
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Last week, Education Minister Gabriel Attal said he had decided to ban the wearing of abayas and kamis (loose-fitting long robes) in French schools. The ban took effect from the beginning of the school year. The minister said that students who came to school in Muslim clothes would not be allowed to attend classes, and they would be given an explanatory conversation. Commenting on the new ban, the official speaker of the French Cabinet, Olivier Veran, called the wearing of abayas and camises at school a “political attack”.
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Earlier, the French Ministry of Education reported that it had received a record number of reports of violations of the principle of secularism in schools. In the 2022-2023 academic year, the ministry received 4,710 complaints, up 120% from a year earlier. This is especially true for the wearing of religious clothing – abaya among girls and qamis among boys, which has grown by 150%. Violations affect about 150 schools in France. The ministry expressed concern that a law passed back in 2004 prohibiting the wearing of clothing and symbols of religious affiliation “incompatible with the principle of secularism in schools” is not being enforced.
