France to ban schoolgirls from wearing abayas in school

Female pupils will be banned from wearing abayas, loose-fitting full-length robes worn by some Muslims, in France's state-run schools.

The country's education minister, Gabriel Attal said: "When you walk into a classroom, you shouldn't be able to identify the pupils' religion just by looking at them."

The rule will come into force in state-schools in France at the start of the new academic year on the 4 September.

French state-schools are free to attend and are funded by the government.

Wearing a headscarf in state schools has been banned in France since 2004.

Further guidance for schools will follow

France's new education minister Gabriel Attal announced the decision ahead of the first day back at school

Five million people in France are of Muslim faith and abayas are often worn by children in French schools.

The decision to ban them has been made following months of debate and is the first major policy decision by Gabriel Attal, who was appointed France's education minister by President Macron in July.

Mr Attal says he wants schools to be separate and free from religious matters and said further guidance about the new school rules would be given to teachers before pupils return after the summer break.

Not everyone agrees with his decision and The CFCM, a national body representing many Muslim associations, has said items of clothing alone are not "a religious sign".

In 2010, France controversially banned the wearing of full face veils in public, which caused anger among the country's Muslim community.

But for more than 100 years, France has had a strict ban on religious signs in schools, including Christian symbols, like large crosses, and the Jewish kippa, a cap traditionally worn by Jewish males.

This latest abaya ban fits into the development of rules against religious symbols in French schools.