Private Muslim education demands “equal treatment”

The National Federation of Private Muslim Education (FNEM) pleaded Tuesday, October 22 for a “ equal treatment » with the other networks, regretting a “reduced offer” of Muslim schools and openings “very restricted”a “problematic situation”according to her.

“While Islam constitutes the second religion in France, the Muslim community remains largely under-resourced in private schools”deplored in a press release the FNEM, created in 2014 to structure the network of Muslim schools, colleges and high schools, under the leadership of the former Union of Islamic Organizations of France (UOIF, now Muslims of France), resulting of the Muslim Brotherhood.

“In fact, for five years, the openings of private Muslim schools have been very limited compared to other networks. Worse, the trend is towards administrative closure or the termination of association contracts, as was the case of the Averroès high school in Lille, although a symbol of excellence.she continues in this press release, signed by its president Makhlouf Mamèche, director of the Averroès association which manages the school group of the same name.

“The supply has never been so reduced”

The Averroès high school, founded in 2003, went under contract in 2008, before becoming the main Muslim high school in France. But its association contract with the State was terminated from September 1 for breach “to the fundamental principles of the Republic”.

“While the demand for Muslim schools has never been higher, the supply has never been lower”continues the FNEM which underlines “the problematic situation in which private Muslim education finds itself in France”. For this federation, private Muslim education must “take its full place in the French educational landscape” because “the principle of equal treatment requires it”.

At the start of the 2023 school year, before the termination of the contract with Averroès, the FNEM had eleven private educational establishments under contract with the State (first and second degrees) in which 1,886 students were educated in classes under contract, according to data of the Ministry of Education.

Catholic education, for its part, brings together 95% of students educated in the private sector under contract. Of more than 7,500 private establishments under contract at the start of the 2021 school year, 7,000 were part of the Catholic education network, according to a 2023 report from the Court of Auditors on private education under contract.