The Ministry of National Education decided, this Friday, February 16, to extend the application deadline for educational establishments to June.
The project to wear uniforms in schools in France is taking shape. But the idea signed by the President of the Republic and revealed by Gabriel Attal when he was Minister of Education would have more difficulty convincing than expected. However, Emmanuel Macron estimated during his press conference on January 16 that “the unique outfit erases inequalities between families and creates the conditions for respect”. For the moment, the project of wearing uniforms in schools is at the experimental stage. The schools in which it will be tested have all volunteered and will implement it from the start of the school year in September 2024 for two years.
Schools volunteering to experiment with the effects of wearing the unique outfit had until February 15 to make themselves known. But the decision was taken this Friday, February 16 to extend the deadline by four months as indicated franceinfo. Schools therefore still have until June 15 to submit an application and become test schools for the uniform. Should this postponement be understood as a lack of sufficient volunteers? “To date, we have around a hundred schools and establishments in 19 academies which have expressed an interest in experimenting with common uniforms,” simply indicated the Ministry of National Education. Which, however, did not mention the withdrawals of certain schools previously volunteering to participate in the experiment.
Around fifteen withdrawals
Several establishments ultimately changed their minds and withdrew after volunteering for the experiment according to RMC. These reversals of situation would concern around fifteen establishments. These schools indicated that they had submitted the question of wearing a uniform to a student vote and had respected their choice when opposition to the experiment prevailed. For other schools, notably those of primary education, it was the opposition of the parents of students which pushed them to review their judgment on the wearing of the uniform, as in Plouisy in Côtes-d’Armor, after demonstrations at town hall, reports West France. Establishments could still withdraw, since according to RMC other votes still need to be put in place.
The implementation of this project is therefore not unanimous. As indicated The world, this measure first requires a modification of the school’s internal regulations which must themselves be voted on by the councils of all school levels, from kindergarten to high school. And in certain municipalities, the project encountered refusal from parents or students and had to be abandoned. But elsewhere, the uniform was very well received. As in Béziers in Hérault, where the uniform should make its debut in four primary schools in the city at the end of the winter holidays, according to France Bleu Hérault.