French government officials on Monday implemented a ban on wearing the long, baggy garment worn to comply with Islamic beliefs on the modest dress -- Abaya, by Muslim students at schools across the country.
The enforcement came after the ban was imposed last month. The government explained that the ban was necessary because Abayas 'broke the rules on secularism in education'. Previously, France has banned headscarves as it uses secularism to target Muslim symbolism.
French Education Minister Gabriel Attal, in a media interview, said that they had identified some 513 of the 45,000 schools across France where students show up wearing an abaya and thus stand to be affected. There are 12 million children who go to school in France.
Attal added that they will depute trained inspectors at these schools.
French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, who visited schools in northern France to remain vigilant about enforcing the ban, said that students who did not voluntarily remove the Abaya would be explained that it was being removed as per a law that was being applied.
The ban has been imposed under a nearly 20-year-old law, introduced in 2004, banned "the wearing of signs or outfits by which students ostensibly show a religious affiliation" in schools.
The law also impacts wearing religious symbols such as large crosses, Jewish kippas and Islamic headscarves.