(AFP) A reported increase in Muslim girls wearing the abaya dress at French schools has triggered a debate about their violation of the country’s sacrosanct commitment to secularism in education.
France’s identity has long been wedded to its conception of secularism in public life.
A 2004 law bans wearing clothes or symbols revealing someone’s religion in educational settings, including large crosses, Jewish kippas and Islamic headscarves.
Unlike headscarves, abayas — a long, baggy garment worn to comply with Islamic beliefs on modest dress — occupy a grey area and face no outright ban.
But some believe they flout the secular principles, intensifying a recurring debate about the influence of Islam in schools.
