Children have been seen doing Muslim prayers and observing a minute of silence in tribute to the Prophet Muhammad in establishments in Nice. An investigation was opened, the parents were summoned.
Three primary schools, a college and a high school. In total, five schools of the Nice Academy are the subject of an investigation by the General Inspectorate of Education, Sport and Research after “students organized religious times and prayers during the meridian break”. Open Friday, June 17, its purpose is to establish “precisely the facts and draw useful conclusions”, summarized the Minister of National Education, Pap Ndiaye. Franceinfo summarizes what we know about this affair which has taken on a national dimension.
The mayor of Nice denounces “extremely serious facts”
It all started with a letter that Christian Estrosi sent to Elisabeth Borne. In this mail dated June 15, the mayor of Nice denounces “extremely serious facts” :
“Children in CM1 and CM2 did the Muslim prayer in the courtyard of their establishment or organized a minute of silence in memory of the Prophet Muhammad in their school.”
Christian Estrosi, Mayor of Nicein a letter to the Prime Minister
These facts, which occurred almost a month ago for some, were reported to him by the rectorate on June 14. “In two of these schools, it is prayers at the meridian hour. These prayers involved ten children of CM1, on May 16, for one of these schools, and three children of CM1, on June 5, for the other”detailed the rector of the Nice academy, Natacha Chicot, to AFP. For the third school, it is a pupil of CM2 who took the initiative on June 8 to organize a minute of silence in memory of the prophet and who called on his comrades to participate.
According to information from France 3, these are Saint-Sylvestre, Fuon Cauda and Bois de Boulogne, all located in Nice. Wearing an abaya (a traditional Muslim outfit) and a prayer were also reported in the Honoré d’Estienne d’Orves high school in Nice and at the Pablo Picasso college in Vallauris (Alpes-Maritimes).
Asked by Nice morningthe rector of the Nice Academy ensures that“there is no established link between the cases”. According to her, all the alerts were issued by the catering staff. Indeed, lunch breaks in schools are generally the responsibility of the municipalities because it is municipal employees who are responsible for this extracurricular time.
“I informed Christian Estrosi because the facts were serious enough and the reports had been made by municipal staff.”
Natacha Chicot, rector of the Nice Academyin “Nice-Matin”
The Minister of Education orders the opening of an investigation
According to the rector of the Nice Academy, the CM2 student who took the initiative on June 8 to organize a minute of silence in memory of Muhammad was reported to the prefecture for “suspicion of radicalization”. For his part, the mMinister of National Education tweeted that, “As soon as the facts occurred, the parents were summoned”and “specific sequences on secularism have been organized”.
In a joint press release with Christian Estrosi, Pap Ndiaye also announced that an investigation to establish “precisely the facts and draw useful conclusions” had been entrusted to the General Inspectorate for Education, Sports and Research. “The school of the Republic is a sanctuary for all our children, it is our duty to protect it from any religious entry”, write the Minister of National Education and the Mayor of Nice. And Pap Ndiaye concludes: “The principle of secularism is not negotiable in our Republic.”
More and more attacks on secularism are observed
In 2016, the Ministry of National Education set up a platform with the aim of reporting serious acts of violence and attacks on secularism in establishments. This application, titled “Establishment Facts“, intended to “simplify and harmonize incident reporting at all levels of the education system”reads a report from the Ministry of Education.
During the start of the school year last September, 313 reports for attacks on secularism had been identified. In detail, 54% of these incidents were for “wearing of signs and outfits” religious. Pap Ndiaye then had observed a “rise in power (…) for a year”. Before the start of the school year, 627 incidents had been reported between December 2021 and March 2022 and 904 between April and July 2022. At the Minister’s request, “the summary concerning the reports of attacks on secularism” had thus gone from a quarterly rhythm to a monthly rhythm.
In his joint press release with Christian Estrosi, the Minister of National Education also assured that he wanted to act with “firmness, discernment and pedagogy” in order to “reduce significantly (…) the facts of attacks on secularism”. “At the national level, additional measures will be concerted with the associations of local elected officials from the next instance of dialogue with the local authorities which will be held on July 3”also informed Pap Ndiaye.