France has banned Islamic dress code also called abayas in schools, leading to dozens of Muslim women being sent home for refusing to comply.
The controversy began as the new school term commenced when nearly 300 girls, in defiance of the ban, showed up at schools across the country wearing abayas.
Education Minister Gabriel Attal confirmed the incidents and revealed that most students eventually agreed to change out of the long, loose-fitting robes, which are commonly worn by some Muslim women and girls. However, 67 students adamantly refused and were sent home.
“Defying a ban on the garment seen as a religious symbol nearly 300 girls showed up on Monday morning wearing abayas, Most agreed to change out of the robe, but 67 refused and were sent home,” he said.
This contentious decision comes after Gabriel Attal announced last month that Islamic dress code worn by Muslim women would no longer be permitted within French schools.
“I have decided that the abaya could no longer be worn in schools,” Attal told French television.
“When you walk into a classroom, you shouldn’t be able to identify the pupils’ religion just by looking at them.”
“Secularism means the freedom to emancipate oneself through school,” describing the abaya as “a religious gesture, aimed at testing the resistance of the republic toward the secular sanctuary that school must be”.
He added that he was in favour of trialling school uniforms or a dress code.
Uniforms have not been obligatory in French schools since 1968 but have regularly come back on the political agenda, often pushed by conservative and far-right politicians.
Citing uniform code, India’s Karnataka also banned Muslim women from covering their heads inside school Premises.