The administrative court of Nice rejects the interim relief appeal of the Muslim college Avicenne on its transfer under contract

He believes that the urgency required for interim relief was not demonstrated, because the college’s enrolment is increasing and its sustainability is not threatened.

The administrative court of Nice announced on Thursday, August 15, that it had rejected the interim relief appeal of the Avicenne Muslim college, recently saved by the courts from a closure ordered by the prefecture,regarding the rejection of his requests to be placed under contract. The court did not rule on the merits, but considered that the urgency required for interim relief was not demonstrated, since enrolments were increasing sharply and the college’s sustainability was not threatened.

Opened in 2015 in a disadvantaged area of ​​Nice, the Avicenne college made its first request after five years, the legal deadline. The first two times, an inspection noted the lack of sports classes and the absence of a physics-chemistry laboratory. Since then, the college has obtained, at great expense, slots in a swimming pool and a stadium, and has set up a laboratory. But its last request was rejected in the spring, on the grounds that the State no longer had any funds.

At the same time, the prefecture ordered the closure of the college in March, denouncing a “opacity” of its accounts contrary to the law on separatism. But the administrative court overturned this decision, considering that simple accounting errors did not justify such a radical measure. The state did not appeal.

The college has therefore returned to the issue of the contract, taking the last refusal to court, both on the merits and in summary proceedings, in an attempt to obtain a contract, even for a symbolic euro, before the start of the school year. “We cannot at the same time blame Muslims for not wanting to get involved and comply with the rules of the Republic and when they ask for a contract, tell them no, we have no more money, we don’t want you.”denounced the college’s lawyer, Me Sefen Guez Guez, during the hearing on Monday.

According to a 2023 Court of Auditors report (PDF document)Catholic institutions represent 96% of the workforce in private education under contract. In addition to State participation in funding the college, the transition to a contract facilitates access to public sports facilities and, above all, makes it easier to validate students’ progress.

Currently, half of Avicenne’s 4th year students return to a public middle school for the 3rd year in order to benefit from continuous assessment for the brevet and to avoid an additional exam before being able to apply to a public high school.