After the veil and the Kippa, it is the turn of the abaya to be banned at school. In an interview with TF1 20 hours, the Minister of National Education Gabriel Attal announced his intention to ban the wearing of the abaya in schools at the start of the school year. The qamis, its equivalent for men, is also covered by this ban.
These long traditional dresses that cover the whole body have been the subject of much controversy in recent months. In a National Education circular published in November 2022, the wearing of this garment could already be prohibited if “it was worn in such a way as to ostensibly manifest a religious affiliation”.
“Finally, we have the right to a clear word”
Invited this Monday to the Great Interview with Sonia Mabrouk, MEP François-Xavier Bellamy does not hide his satisfaction. “Finally, it was time for the Minister of National Education to take up the subject, if only to help all the heads of establishments, principals and teachers”, he explains at the microphone. from Europe 1.
“Finally, we have the right to a clear word from the minister. I am very happy about it. I regret that it took so long. I regret that it took months for his predecessor, Pap Ndiaye, procrastinates and even explains in a certain way that it was not the role of the State to enter into these considerations. On the contrary, the fight today is urgent to get the school out of the pressure under which it is today”, he continues.
Learn to transmit again
“I hope that the denial will finally stop,” he adds, still waiting after Emmanuel Macron’s statements in the weekly. Point. “We have the feeling that he explains that there are actually no real threats to secularism in the school of the Republic today”, analyzes François-Xavier Bellamy. In any case, he minimizes this issue”, continues the MEP, now calling for the reconstruction of the school to better transmit to children the knowledge studied in class.
“We will not defeat the fight against Islamism (…) by only prohibiting what constitutes abuses. Of course, it is important, but we will win first by relearning to transmit, to transmit the heart of this which makes French culture to all children”, concludes the vice-president of the Republicans.