The Minister of National Education, Gabriel Attal, announced the upcoming launch of a “large-scale experiment” which will see a number of children in France wear school uniforms for the first time.
The French Minister of National Education is preparing to announce a “large-scale experimentation“wearing a uniform at school in a selection of local authorities.
Gabriel Attal specifies that the objective will be to scientifically measure the effectiveness of such a measure.
“Like many French people, I am divided on the question of uniform…I am not yet convinced that this is the solution to all our problems, and not convinced either, like some, that we should neither talk about it nor try it“, the minister told France Info.
Gabriel Attal adds that he was “curious to know what results a large-scale experiment would give in terms of school climate, raising the level of our students“or impact”on authority at school, school harassment or questions of secularism“.
Secularism at school
Secularism and the separation of church and state in schools have long been a controversial subject in France.
Last September, the highest court in the country, the Council of State, spoke out in favor of the government’s ban on the abayaa Muslim outfit, for schoolgirls.
At the time, President Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed his belief that the ban would help protect secularism in French schools.
Opponents of this decision, however, argue that it is a cultural garment and not a religious symbol.
A new experience on a large scale
Gabriel Attal announced that uniform trial likely to be detailed by end of year.
It will unfold “in a certain number of establishments, in different local authorities which will experiment on a large scale with the uniform in our country“, he explains.
He has not yet confirmed the ages of the students concerned, but assured that the government “will work with local authorities so that the experiment can be carried out without a hitch and without expense for families“.
“If the test proves conclusive, we will be able to relaunch the debate on the generalization of the uniform in Francethis time on a real scientific basis“, added Gabriel Attal.