French authorities are to ban the wearing in school of abaya dresses worn by some Muslim women, the education minister said Sunday, arguing the garment violated France's strict secular laws in education.
"It will no longer be possible to wear an abaya at school," Education Minister Gabriel Attal told TF1 television, saying he would give"clear rules at the national level" to school heads ahead of the return to classes nationwide from September 4.
There have been reports of abayas being increasingly worn in schools and tensions within school over the issue between teachers and parents. A law of March 2004 banned"the wearing of signs or outfits by which students ostensibly show a religious affiliation" in schools.Unlike headscarves, abayas – a long, baggy garment worn to comply with Islamic beliefs on modest dress – occupied a grey area and had faced no outright ban until now.It described the abaya as one of a group of items of clothing whose wearing could be banned if they were"worn in a manner as to openly display a religious affiliation".
Barely back from the summer break, she said, President Emmanuel Macron's administration was already trying to compete with Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally.
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