A local official announced on Monday that France will discontinue its funding for the country’s largest Islamic secondary school. The decision is based on what is described as administrative failures and questionable educational practices. This move is seen as the latest in what some human rights groups claim to be a broader security campaign targeting Muslims.
Ibn Rushd Private School, the first Islamic high school established in 2003 in Lille, Northern France, educates over 800 students. It has been contracted with the state since 2008. Students follow the standard French curriculum and also receive religious education.
However, a report issued in October by the local office of the Ministry of the Interior, reviewed by Reuters, indicated that the school suffers from administrative and financial mismanagement. It also stated that some teaching practices do not align with the values of the French Republic. The office declined to provide further details regarding the contract termination.
Many Muslims feel that France, home to the largest Muslim community in Europe, has become increasingly hostile towards them, especially following a series of extremist attacks in 2015 that resulted in fatalities.
Eric Dufour, the director of Ibn Rushd School, mentioned that he has not yet received a notification from the local office of the Ministry of the Interior. However, the school plans to challenge the decision in the administrative court.
Dufour, speaking to Reuters last week in Lille after being summoned to an education committee meeting in late November, expressed his concerns about the potential school contract termination. He stated, “When it comes to the values of the Republic, we do more than any other school.”
A 2020 inspection report by the Ministry of Education, reviewed by Reuters, found no observations regarding the school’s teaching practices disrespecting “republican values.”
France has taken several actions in recent years that have been perceived as targeting the Muslim community, particularly in the realm of clothing and religious expression. Notably, France’s top court recently upheld a government ban on the wearing of traditional abayas in public schools. This decision was made despite arguments that the ban was discriminatory and could incite hatred. The State Council, France’s highest court for complaints against public authorities, rejected a request for an injunction against the ban, stating that wearing the garments “follows the logic of religious affirmation” and did not cause “serious or obviously illegal harm to the respect for personal lives, freedom of religion, the right to education, the wellbeing of children or the principle of non-discrimination”
These measures are part of a broader series of actions taken by the French government under the pretext of protecting secularism, or laïcité. This includes bans on religious symbols in state schools since 2004, such as headscarves, and a ban on full-face veils in public in 2010. Additionally, various municipalities have introduced prohibitions on full-body “burkini” swimsuits in public pools since 2016. In November 2022, the then Minister of National Education introduced a Laïcité plan aiming to prevent students from wearing modest or “religiously affiliated” clothing in French public schools. The plan instructed school staff to report and sanction students wearing long skirts and long-sleeved attire if they refuse to change, with disciplinary action including halting their education.
These actions have raised concerns about the potential for increasing Islamophobia and the marginalization of the Muslim community in France.
