The Council of State confirmed, on Friday, September 27, the ban on wearing the abaya at school, which, according to it, “apparently manifests religious affiliation”. A decision that basically rejects the associations’ requests already rejected in a summary procedure a year ago.
The associations La Voix lycéenne, Le Poing leva and Action Droits des Musulmans, as well as the SUD-Education union “they are not justified in requesting the cancellation of the memorandum” of August 31, 2023, by which the Minister of Education prohibited the use of abaya or qami-type suits in educational establishments, according to a decision issued on Friday.
Indeed, “in relation to the behavior of the students who wear these costumes, used in a logic of religious affirmation”wearing such outfits “could be considered as an ostensible manifestation of religious affiliation, prohibited by the law of March 15, 2004”explains the Council of State in a press release.
Around 300 students affected
Therefore, it basically judges that “the note from the Minister of National Education complies with the law”. The highest administrative court follows the logic of two sentences handed down in September 2023, when it validated in a summary procedure the ban on this long dress at school.
“The use of these costumes is part of a logic of religious affirmation, since the dialogue between the establishments and the students concerned has revealed that it is accompanied by a stereotyped discourse, inspired by arguments spread on social networks and developed to avoid the prohibition enshrined in the law”adds the Council of State.
In September 2023, the matter was highly publicized: 300 students, of the twelve million affected by the start of the school year, showed up in abaya in front of their establishment.
