The administrative court of Lille confirmed this Monday, February 12 in summary proceedings the decision of the prefect of the North to end, as of the start of the 2024 school year, subsidies for the Averroès high school, the main Muslim secondary school in France. The establishment announced that it would refer the matter to the Council of State.
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The Lille administrative court rejected this Monday the request from the Lille Averroès high school, which called for the emergency suspension of the decision taken last December by the prefect of the North ending its public subsidies. “ There is no reason to maintain the association contract linking the Averroès high school to the State until the decision to terminate this contract (…) is examined by the trial judges », Explained the court in a press release. This hearing on the merits has not been scheduled, but should take place “ before the end of the current school year “.
The prefect had accused the high school, open for 20 years and regularly ranked among the best in the region, of having provided teaching “ contrary to the values of the Republic “. The administrative court, taking up some of the arguments of the prefect of the North, justified its decision by considering that the high school had indeed failed to fulfill its obligations on two occasions. Firstly, ” by opposing without sufficient reason an unannounced control of the CDI scheduled for June 27, 2022 “, and on the other hand by citing, as a source for Muslim ethics courses, a book advocating the death penalty in the event of apostasy.
Following this decision, the establishment denounced through one of its lawyers “ an unacceptable decision which sweeps away without answering our arguments to adopt those of the prefecture “. “ We are appealing this order to the Council of State and hope to obtain a favorable decision as soon as possible. “, he added in his press release.
During the hearing on January 24, another lawyer from the Averroès high school described the prefectural decision as “ death warrant » for an establishment which will not be able to operate without its subsidies, and of which 61% of students are on scholarships.
(With AFP)