Paris
French authorities have shut down the only school in Paris that caters to Muslims, TRT World reported.
According to the publication, the 4.5 million strong Muslim community in the country is facing increasing pressure from authorities.
Established in 2015, MHS College and High School is a private secondary in Paris. Despite the school officially being secular and following the national curriculum, its pupils are mostly Muslims.
“A unique feature of the school, however, is that it allows its girlstudents to follow their religious convictions and wear the hijab if they wish, ‘because we think that everybody should wear the clothes they want!’ said the founder of the MHS,” reported TRT. ollowing France’s 2004 crackdown against Muslim girls’ right to wear a headscarf on school premises, they were compelled to take it off at the entrance of the school gate.
Since then, there were few options under which a Muslim woman could receive an education while still able to practice her faith. The Paris school was a “unique” establishment that had allowed this freedom to Muslim girls.
In a statement, the school called this latest decision to shut the school as “arbitrary”, with more than 110 students without a placement in the middle of an academic year, as well 18 teachers and support staff unemployed.
