In the sights of the authorities, the Averroès Muslim high school in Lille could well lose its public funding

In 1994, 19 young girls refused to remove their veil and were excluded from their public high school Faidherbe in Lille. The judges then considered that the circular of September 1994, on the wearing of “ostentatious” religious symbols at school, signed by François Bayrou, then Minister of National Education, was in accordance with the law.

The idea of ​​a Muslim confessional establishment then emerged but it was not until September 2003 that the Averroès high school opened in Lille, at which time it only had 11 students.

Five years later, the State granted it the status of establishment under contract. With the key, aid from the Ministry of National Education for the remuneration of teachers and a so-called day school package, paid by the Hauts-de-France region. More than 300,000 euros per year of public money, for the operation of the high school (salaries of non-teaching staff and teaching expenses).

A high school today in the viewfinder

This Monday, November 27, 2023, met in Lille, at the initiative of the prefect of the North, the academic advisory commission (academy inspectors, regional and departmental elected officials, representatives of private education, parents of students, etc.) which looked into the fate of the establishment and voted on whether or not to maintain the establishment’s association contract. In other words: public funding essential to the survival of the high school.

And, according to our information, a vote in favor of withdrawing the contract took place this Monday. It is now up to the prefect to decide. His decision should come in the coming days.

At the origins of this standoff, in particular: a confidential 12-page report, written by the prefect of the North on October 27, in which he sets out the reasons which justify his request for revocation of the contract which links the high school to the State.

He mentions, I quote: “A worrying educational community”, “Several teachers legally indicted” and “acts of proselytism.”

If they are high school teachers, they were appointed by the rectorate, so I am not the employer

Eric Dufour, director of Averroès high school

At the Eye of 8 p.m.

Éric Dufour, director of the Averroès school group, says he is not aware of the current legal proceedings and is not responsible for the actions of the teachers : “It’s very simple, if they are high school teachers, they have been appointed by the rectorate, so I am not the employer. I am certainly their superior from an administrative point of view but it is the rectorate which appoints and suspends these people”.

Concerning the educational aspect, the prefect’s document mentions the presence of a work: “Commentary on the Forty Hadiths of Imam An-Nawawi” which would have been studied, according to him, by second year students. The two authors – Mustafa Al-Bugha and Muhyi Ad-Din Mistu – there enact religious precepts such as “The ban on a sick woman being examined by a man when a woman can perform this procedure.” (commentary on the 9th Hadith). The work also refers to apostasy – or abandonment of Islam: Apostasy is prohibited under penalty of death. : “The Muslim who does not pray while denying its obligatory nature ceases to be Muslim and is considered an apostate. It follows that he must be executed (…)” (commentary on the 14th Hadith). A work, judges the Prefect’s report “in complete contradiction with republican values.”

According to the director of the Averroès high school, this book would never have been placed in the hands of students but “suggested” in ethics classes: “It was mentioned in bibliographical reference. He escaped our vigilance. That’s why I cut the ethics program. This is to tell you.”

There is no need to constantly bring us back to States, to movements that have no place here

Eric Dufour, director of Averroès high school

At the Eye of 8 p.m.

On the basis of a previous report from the regional court of accounts, dated June 2023, the prefect also mentions un financing system that he describes as “illicit”, due to an alleged lack of transparency: “A significant part of the establishment’s financing comes from cash, therefore untraceable money and funding for associations, some of them themselves beneficiaries – can we read – funds of foreign origin”. “Flows involving linked associative structures, add the documentto the Brotherhood movement”. Understand: the Islamist organization of the Muslim Brotherhood.

When questioned, the high school director denies any Islamist interference: “There is no need to constantly bring us back to states, to movements that have no place here. I am the guarantor, the bulwark against radicalization, against separatism.”

The Averroès high school would like to point out that the numerous academic inspections have never highlighted any shortcomings. When contacted, the Ministry of National Education did not wish to comment.

AMONG OUR SOURCES

Private educational establishments

Education Code: status of private educational establishments & relations with the State

The education code establishes the status of these establishments, through provisions resulting from two laws:

• The law of December 31, 1959, known as “Debré” lawnamed after the author of the bill from which it came, then Prime Minister and Minister of National Education ;
• The law of April 13, 2018, known as “Gatel” lawnamed after the senator who authored the bill from which it originated.

Averroès Association: the report of the Hautes-de-France Regional Court of Auditors of June 2023