France Bans Muslim Students from Wearing Abayas in Public Schools

French Education Minister Gabriel Attal announced today, just before the start of the new school year, that "Muslim students in public schools will be prohibited from wearing abayas." Minister Attal stated in an interview with the television channel "TF1": "When you enter a classroom, you should not be able to identify the religion of the students just by looking at them." France has enforced a strict ban on religious symbols in public schools since it abolished nineteenth-century laws that allowed any Catholic influence on public education. It is now working to update guidelines to address its growing Muslim minority. Authorities banned the hijab in schools in 2004 and implemented a ban on wearing the niqab in public in 2010, which sparked anger among some members of the Islamic community, comprising around five million people. The entire French political spectrum defends secularism, from leftists who support the liberal values of the Enlightenment era to far-right voters who seek to limit the growing role of Islam in French society.