France to ban wearing Islamic abayas in schools

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00:00 It's one of his first major decisions as French education minister, and one that's likely

00:05 to generate a significant amount of pushback.

00:08 Gabriel Attal announced that Abayas will be banned from public schools from the start

00:12 of the academic year, claiming the government was testing France's secular values.

00:17 In recent months, as we know, there has been a considerable increase in attacks on secularism,

00:23 particularly with the wearing of religious dress, such as Abayas.

00:27 In the face of occasional blows, attacks and attempts at destabilization, we must and will

00:32 stand united.

00:34 Standing together means being clear.

00:36 The Abaya has no place in our schools.

00:39 Up until now, Abayas, a long baggy garment popular in the Middle East, faced no outright

00:44 ban in France.

00:45 This, after the wearing of religious symbols like crosses, kippahs and headscarves were

00:49 banned from schools in 2004.

00:52 Teachers' unions say they're waiting for more details on how the ban will be enforced.

00:56 We'll be paying close attention to how this applies to school principals.

01:02 Because if you have an extremely tough posture, you risk pupils leaving public education and

01:07 taking refuge in private education.

01:11 French Muslim groups insist Abayas are not religious symbols, but the garment has nevertheless

01:17 been in the crosshairs of lawmakers on the right and far right in France.

01:21 The ban is likely to face hurdles, with school authorities left to decide if a long flowing

01:26 dress is considered a religious symbol or is simply just fashion.

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