AFPA bayas and other robes for sale at a trade fair in France in 2018
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 09:26
From next school year, students from public schools in France will no longer be allowed to wear an abaya, a loose-fitting robe that reaches to the floor with long sleeves. According to Education Minister Attal, the robe violates strict secular rules at school.
The headscarf has therefore been banned in the French classroom for years, as have other obvious religious expressions such as yarmulkes or crosses. The abaya has so far fallen into a twilight zone, which has led to discussions in some schools between students and parents on the one hand and teachers and school boards on the other.
Attal now wants to clarify the abaya. He calls the dress “a religious gesture, clearly intended to test the republic’s resilience to the secular sanctuary that a school should be.” The minister states that when entering a classroom you should not be able to see from the student which religion they adhere to.
Proponents and opponents
A union of school leaders reacts against news agency AFP positive on the news. “Previously it was unclear what the rules are and that has now been clarified.” The right-wing opposition party Les Républicains is also happy with the ban, “which we have already asked for several times”. And politicians of the left-wing Parti socialiste think the ban is justified, because the abaya an obvious religious expression is.
But the far-left opposition party La France Insoumise speaks of it Islamophobia. The party foresees endless problems in determining what someone wants to convey with his or her clothes and speaks of putting what people wear under control. A French umbrella organization of Muslim organizations states that the abaya is not religious in itself.
2023-08-28 07:26:21
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