(Local) Teaching unions and anti-racism charities have demanded an inquiry after French police sent a request to schools for information on the number of pupils absent on the Muslim festival of Eid.
The French government has confirmed that it asked for “an evaluation” of the number of pupils absent from schools in one south-western city on the day of Eid al-Fitr last month, but has rejected claims the controversial request amounted to a census on faith.
Such a study would be illegal under France’s secularism laws.
Police asked school principals in Toulouse to tell them the number of students absent on the day, according to reports as part of a “request from the intelligence services” to calculate “the percentage of absenteeism […] during the Eid holiday [on April 21st].”
