PARIS – France has shut down only school catering to Muslims in Paris, taking another step against the Muslim community of the country.
The European country, which is already being slammed across Muslim world for its President Emanuel Macron’s anti-Islam remarks, has introduced a slew of rules to put pressure on the country’s 4.5 million Muslim population.
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The authorities have targeted MHS College and High School, a private educational institution in the capital. Although the school is secular and follows national policies on curriculum, its students are predominantly Muslim, TRT World reported.
However, a feature that distinguished it from others was its openness as there was no ban on wearing hijab for Muslim girls.
France banned headscarf on school premises in 2004, targeting Muslim girls. Since then, there were few options for Muslim students to study at school while practicing their faith.
The school administration has called the decision arbitrary, beside clarifying that no any course around religion was taught at the schools.
It said that the decision would not only put the academic year of students at risk but also deprived the staff of their jobs.
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On the other hand, authorities claimed that the school was shut down as building’s safety standards were insufficient.
However, the school administration contended that extension renovation was carried out to meet the legal obligation.
It also revealed that the building is shared with other institutions that are also working with children and “they were not asked to shutdown. Only MHS was ordered to.”
