(AFP) A French court ruled that a Muslim school could continue to receive state subsidies after local authorities in 2023 cut funding over alleged “serious breaches” of teaching rules, the court and its management said.
Private schools can receive state subsidies in France under a contract with the government, so long as they are open to all students, and follow the state’s education guidelines.
The Averroes school, founded two decades ago in the northern city of Lille in the wake of a ban on the Muslim headscarf in schools, regularly scores highly in academic standards.
But regional state authorities in November 2023 said they suspected the Averroes school had received illicit financing, and noted a book referring to the death penalty for apostasy and gender segregation listed in a [bibliography] for teachers giving a Muslim ethics class.
