France has decided to ban children from the “abaya”, the loose-fitting gown worn by some Muslim women.
According to the Reuters report, France’s education minister has said the country will ban children from wearing the loose-fitting, full-length robes worn by some Muslim women, in state-run schools.
The decision comes ahead of the back-to-school season in France.
France, which has enforced a strict ban on religious signs in state schools since 19th century laws removed any traditional Catholic influence from public education, has struggled to update guidelines to deal with a growing Muslim minority, it mentioned.
In 2004, it banned headscarves in schools and passed a ban on full face veils in public in 2010, angering some in its five million-strong Muslim community, the report mentioned.
“Defending secularism is a rallying cry in France that resonates across the political spectrum, from left-wingers upholding the liberal values of the Enlightenment to far-right voters seeking a bulwark against the growing role of Islam in French society,” the report said.
"I have decided that the abaya could no longer be worn in schools," Education Minister Gabriel Attal was quoted in the report as having said.
"When you walk into a classroom, you shouldn't be able to identify the pupils' religion just by looking at them," he said, as per the report.
