French authorities are to ban the wearing in school of abaya dresses worn by some Muslim women. On Sunday, the education minister in France argued that the garment violated France's strict secular laws in education. Education Minister Gabriel Attal said that he would give clear rules at the national level to school heads ahead of the return to classes nationwide from September 4 The move comes after months of debate over the wearing of abayas in French schools, where women have long been banned from wearing the Islamic headscarf. The right and far-right had pushed for the ban, which the left argued would encroach on civil liberties. There have been reports of abayas being increasingly worn in schools and tensions within schools over the issue between teachers and parents.

#France #Abayas #GabrielAttal #FranceEducationMinister
~HT.178~PR.151~ED.194~