Al-Kindi high school fears termination of its state contract

After the termination of the state contract for the Averroès high school, the private Muslim high school Al-Kindi, in Décines-Charpieu (Rhône), is in turn called into question. The private Muslim establishment received a letter of invitation to an academic consultation committee on December 12, information confirmed to The Cross by the Rhône prefecture. In this letter, the prefect plans to terminate the association contract linking the school to the State. Contacted by The Crossthe prefecture did not, however, specify the reasons for this summons.

“The experience of other establishments, as well as the substance and form of the controls suggest that the decision could mean the economic bankruptcy of our establishment of excellence,” alert Abla Halkoum, assistant director of the establishment, in a press release issued Tuesday, December 3. State subsidies allow private establishments under contract to pay their teachers.

This year, the private establishment under contract Al-Kindi had been inspected several times by the rectorate. “Some checks took place without being announced, when normally only private establishments outside of contracts are subject to unannounced checks,” describes Makhlouf Mamèche, president of the National Federation of Private Muslim Education in France (FNEM).

Alert from the Council of Mosques of the Rhône

Since the termination of the state contract of the private Muslim high school Averroès in Lille at the start of the 2024 school year, Al-Kindi high school was the only private Muslim high school under contract with the state. Opened in 2007 with the support of the Minister of the Interior, Nicolas Sarkozy, against the advice of the rector of the academy at the time, Alain Morvan, it obtained its association contract in 2012, and rose in 2019 and 2022 among the best high schools in the department. Today, 80% of its classes, from primary school to final year, have a contract with the State. The high school has 172 students, according to their website.

On November 24, the Rhône Council of Mosques had already warned of the difficulties encountered by Al-Kindi. During his seminar of reflection and action which was held that day, “particular attention was paid to the difficulties encountered by Al-Kindi high school, an educational institution recognized for its excellent academic results for several years,” mentioned the Council of Mosques of the Rhône in a press release. “This high school, a symbol of success and educational commitment, is today causing great concern among parents and the entire community,” he continued, without however mentioning the reasons for this concern or the nature of the difficulties encountered.

“We are worried, the parents of the students have contacted us,” explains the rector of the Grand Mosque of Lyon and president of the Council of Mosques of the Rhône, Kamel Kabtane, without wanting to go into the substance of the matter. “We are in a country whose motto is “liberty, equality, fraternity”: Muslims have the right to have confessional education, like Catholic and Jewish religions,” he insists.

“Trend towards administrative closure”

In fact, Al-Kindi’s situation echoes the difficulties of private Muslim education in France to which the National Federation of Private Muslim Education already alerted at the end of October. “While Islam constitutes the second religion in France, the Muslim community remains largely under-resourced in private schools,” she lamented in a press release dated October 20.

“For five years, the openings of private Muslim schools have been very limited compared to other networks,” she indicated. “Worse, the trend is towards administrative closure or the termination of association contracts, as was the case at the Averroès high school in Lille. » This was terminated for “breaches of the fundamental principles of the Republic. » Passed out of contract at the start of the 2024 school year, he saw the number of his students drop by half.