On this back-to-school day, Gabriel Attal, the Minister of National Education, took out of his briefcase the idea of experimenting with school uniforms in the months to come. At the microphone of RTL, he specified that he will announce the modalities “in the fall” and added that the experimentation will concern all levels, from primary to high school.
Blouse, polo shirt or uniform
But what form could this new school uniform version 2023 take? For Louis Aliot, RN mayor of Perpignan, it could look like a “sweatshirt, a blouse, and if you are more ambitious, a uniform, but that seems expensive to me”, reports Liberation. It could also consist of a simple “uniform outfit”, the cut and color of which each establishment could set, as Roger Chudeau, MP for the National Rally (RN), had suggested at the start of the year when his bill’s bill group about it had been considered before being rejected. Gabriel Attal for his part, did not leak any clues to imagine what this outfit could be.
Support for the measure is increasing. Eric Ciotti, the boss of the Republicans (LR), pleaded in the columns of the Journal du Dimanche for the launch of an experiment in the Alpes-Maritimes. Martine Vassal, president of the Bouches-du-Rhône department, also wants to experiment with wearing a uniform in the colleges of the department. Among the arguments put forward, student safety.
Sabrina Agresti-Roubache, Secretary of State in charge of the City, had caused an uproar on August 29 by declaring herself in favor of wearing uniforms in poor neighborhoods before her entourage specified that the proposal was more valid for “the whole territory”. Robert Ménard, RN mayor of Béziers, meanwhile declared at the beginning of August that his city was an official candidate to experiment with wearing school uniforms. For the moment, none of them has explicitly mentioned how they imagined this garment. In parts of French territory where the uniform already exists, such as in the West Indies or New Caledonia, students most often wear a T-shirt of a predetermined color.
A solution promoting secularism, equality, the fight against harassment…
On the other hand, everyone willingly projects the effects that the establishment of the uniform could have. The Minister of Education, Gabriel Attal, hopes that the experiment will make it possible to see “what it allows in terms of restoring authority at school and raising the level at school”. He tempers, however, adding that he is “not sure that this is a miracle solution that will solve all the problems of the school”. In the field of equality and secularism, the uniform appears to many as the answer to certain problems. “It can partially erase the differences between the less rich and the richer, argues Robert Ménard on RMC. On the religious ground, if the students are all with the same sweater, that solves a whole bunch of problems!
Louis Aliot, insists, him, particularly on the stigmatization of the pupils who cannot take part in the “race with the marks”. He considers that in a context of social inequalities, “this would promote equal opportunities, strengthen the feeling of belonging to schools, save families money and reduce racketeering and school harassment on clothes… “. Arguments shared with Sophie Blanc, RN deputy for Pyrénées-Orientales. She also sees it as a way to erase differences, to avoid abayas and other “cultural or religious clothing” as well as to put an end to attacks on secularism.