The wearing of the veil and other “ostentatious religious signs” were banned in all French schools in 2004
Headscarf ban in schools leads Muslim girls to get better grades, study in France finds.
The wearing of the veil and other “ostentatious religious signs” were banned in all French schools in 2004.
The decision was criticized by some, including religious leaders, who argued it would lead to increased persecution.
But new research has now revealed that removing the veil in schools may actually have had positive effects.
Muslim women born between 1971 and 1974 were 13% less likely to graduate from high school than non-Muslim students.
But that figure fell to just seven percent among women born between 1987 and 1990 who attended school during the ban.
Professor Eric Maurin of the Paris School of Economics and co-owner of the study, said: “For students who wore the veil, the ban may have had a negative effect on those who were most attached to it, as this may have led them to drop out of school.
“But the ban may also have had a positive effect on students who were forced to wear headscarves and on students who suffer stigma and discrimination at school because of it.”
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He added, “When comparing women in the Muslim group to those in the non-Muslim group, the data reveals a very significant increase in educational attainment in the Muslim group for the cohorts that attended college and reached puberty. after the ban.
“This increase clearly coincides with the implementation of the circular: the more years women in the Muslim group spent in college after the circular, the higher their level of education.”
The headscarf ban has been at the center of much debate in the ongoing French presidential election.
Marine Le Pen has previously said she would impose a general headscarf ban in all public places if she wins.
She said: “It is an Islamist uniform that I would ban in public places. (It is) the uniform of an ideology, not of a religion”.
Current French President Emmanuel Macron responded by saying: “There is no country in the world where the headscarf is banned in public. Do you want to be the first?
“According to the constitution, if it prohibits the veil, it must prohibit the yarmulke, the cross and other religious symbols.”
