67 students refused to remove it on the first day of school

Nearly 300 students presented themselves in abaya on Monday September 4 at their school despite its ban, announced Tuesday the Minister of National Education Gabriel Attal, specifying that 67 of them had refused to remove it.

“There are young girls who showed up in abaya at their school yesterday (Monday)I think it’s a little less than 300, 298 people”he declared on BFMTV-RMC. “A very large majority complied” to the ban, but “67 did not accept” to remove it and “returned home”.

“In the coming days, they will come back because they have to be educated, and we will see if they have complied with the rule or not, otherwise there will be a new dialogue”continued Gabriel Attal, specifying that they were mainly second-year high school students.

“We also gave them a letter to their families to explain that secularism is not a constraint, it is a freedomhe added. Explain to them that the school does not stigmatize anyone, that their child has their place in the Republic school and that, for everyone to have their place in the Republic school, the rules must be applied and in particular the rules of secularism. »

An appeal before the Council of State

The government announced last week the ban in schools of this long garment worn by women, the religious nature of which has long been the subject of debate. The ban, which also applies to the wearing of the qamis, the male version of the abaya, was the subject of a summary hearing before the Council of State. This request, filed Friday September 1 in the name of the association Action Droits des Musulmans (ADM) to obtain the suspension of this ban, will be examined Tuesday September 5 at 3 p.m.

Questioned on Monday September 4 on the question of the abaya, Emmanuel Macron mentioned the assassination of Samuel Paty to explain the context of the government’s decision to prohibit the wearing of this long garment at school. “We also live in our society with a minority, people who, hijacking a religion, come to challenge the Republic and secularism,” declared the Head of State, interviewed on the channel of YouTuber HugoDécrypte.

“I don’t draw any parallels” between acts of terrorism and the outfit worn by young Muslim girls, assured Emmanuel Macron. “I’m just telling you that the question of secularism in our school is a deep question. »