In October, attacks on secularism in schools exploded. 720 reports were recorded. Faced with this growing phenomenon, the government has decided to respond by unveiling a new action plan. But according to some establishment directors, this would not be enough.
A new record has been reached. In October 2022, 720 reports of attacks on secularism in the 59,260 schools, colleges and high schools in France were recordedaccording to the latest data from the Ministry of Education. A figure that has more than doubled compared to September, when 313 incidents were recorded. In detail, these are the wearing of religious signs and attire, such as abayas and qamis, which topped reports with 40%, compared to 54% in September. Faced with these new figures and this phenomenon which seems to be on the rise, the Ministry of National Education published this Thursday its action plan that it intends to put in place in first and second degree establishments.
The secularism plan of the government does not convince
The plan secularism of the Ministry of Education will revolve around 4 main axes:
- “Sanction systematically and in a graduated manner the behavior of students that undermines secularism when it persists after a phase of dialogue” ;
- “Strengthening the protection and support of personnel” ;
- “Support the heads of establishment in the event of an attack on secularism” ;
- “Strengthen the training of personnel and first and foremost that of school heads.”
Measures on paper that do not convince all heads of schools. Deputy high school principal and SNPDEN-UNSA union member Carole Zerbib says the executive’s plan is “insufficient”, she told AFP. BFM TV. She explains: “All that is remembered (in this action plan, editor’s note) it’s law enforcement, pure and simple. The dialogue, we were already doing it, the sanctions, when the students persisted in wearing the outfit, we were doing it.
The need to support education personnel
As for the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, last declared that we were faced with “an Islamist offensive in French public schools.” To stem this phenomenon, with the support of the Secretary of State for Citizenship, Sonia Backès, Gérald Darmanin sent a letter to each prefect asking them to “supporting the educational community” and D’to bring “all necessary assistance to personnel who would be the subject of threats, or even attacks in connection with the strict application of the principle of secularism.
Regarding the subject of religious dress, the Minister was clear, the 2004 law must be firmly applied in schools. “In this regard, we remind you in particular that some traditional clothing, such as abayas or qamis, is indeed religious clothing by destination when the purpose attached to their port is beyond doubt and it constitutes a clear attempt to circumvent the 2004 law. These practices must be systematically reported to the police, who are also instructed to report “without delay” these incidents to the prefects. “Each headteacher must prohibit the arrival of these religious clothes regardless of the sex and age of these people in public school and high school”he had detailed on RTL.
The abayas, “religious markers”
Several academies, in particular that of Versailles, are today confronted with this growing trend. In this sector, on leaving high school, it is now common to see young teenage girls wearing abayas, reports RTL. These high school girls have chosen to wear this dress without covering their hair. “The rule is that you have to take the veil off before high school”, comments one of them. If they are forbidden, for them it would be a “attack on individual freedoms”. In Montpellier too, the rector, Sophie Béjean, noticed it. “This is not a major increase, but since the start of the school year we have observed situations in certain establishments, with the wearing of these forms of dresses by young girls, which are similar to religious outfits”, she described to Free lunch. In response, with her team, she encourages management to “report facts of any kind”, specifying that “this instruction is the subject of a circular”.
For the Secretary of State for Citizenship Sonia Backès, These outfits “are religious markers”which should be prohibitedshe defended. “We must have absolutely no tolerance because the laws of the Republic are the laws of the Republic. Since 2004, we have had a law that prohibits religious markers in school, so it is prohibited.” The law in question, of March 15, 2008, explicitly details that “In public schools, colleges and high schools, the wearing of signs or outfits by which students ostensibly manifest a religious affiliation is prohibited.” Wearing it may, in certain cases, be subject to disciplinary proceedings. Principals can also “deny access” students wearing an abaya.
The role of social networks in this phenomenon
In these attacks on secularism, the role of social networks is clearly evident. Two recent notes from the State services revealed that on some platforms “strategy of Salafo-Brotherhood entry” proliferatesreported BFM TV who has been able to consult the documents. Concretely, Instagram, Tiktok or Snapchat are vectors of messages that challenge the principle of secularism at school, especially in middle school and high school. Pupils are encouraged to bend the rules, by wearing the veil or religious clothing, or by practicing prayer at school, in the toilets or in an empty room, for example. For the most part, these messages on the networks come from anonymous accounts. Videos have even gone viral. On Tiktok in particular, it is easy to find videos “tips for praying at school”.
On this subject, the Minister of Education reminded AFP of the existence of “Values of the Republic teams in each rectorate, reinforced in certain cases to respond to requests from teaching teams, heads of establishments, when there is a difficulty.”