France is to ban girls in state schools from wearing abayas, sparking a fresh row over secularism and women’s clothing.
The education minister, Gabriel Attal, said that the style of long, flowing dresses worn by some Muslim women, would no longer be allowed when the new term begins next week because they violated the French principle of secularism, or laïcité.
“I have decided that the abaya could no longer be worn in schools,” Attal told French television. “When you walk into a classroom, you shouldn’t be able to identify the pupils’ religion just by looking at them.”
