France’s President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday announced a school uniform trial at around 100 educational institutions with a view to making the measure compulsory nationwide if it is successful.
“School uniforms — which erase inequality between families and at the same time create conditions for respect — will be tried out from this year in around 100 schools on a volunteer basis,” he told journalists.
If the experiment shows positive results, the measure will be implemented nationwide in 2026, he told the news conference aimed at turning around his second term in office.
Uniforms have never been compulsory in all state schools in mainland France.
First Lady Brigitte Macron, a former drama teacher, has backed the introduction of school uniforms.
“France will be stronger… if we are more united, if we re-learn to share values, a common culture, respect in classroom, in the street, in public transport and in shops,” he said, stressing the importance of education.
“Every generation of French people must learn what the republic means,” Macron added, pledging twice as much civic education in schools from the new academic year.
He said he would be in favour of ensuring all children learn the French national anthem, “La Marseillaise”, from primary school.
The president said he hoped to make drama mandatory in school from next September “because it creates confidence, teaches public speaking and contact with great texts”.
He also said government would lay out measures to “determine the good use of screens for our children” for “the future of our societies and our democracies”.
Macron’s comments come after Gabriel Attal, 34, became France’s youngest-ever prime minister last week, after just months as education minister.
During that time, he tackled bullying, including with a video featuring France’s national football team, and banned pupils in public schools from wearing the abaya, a loose-fitting garment worn by Muslim women.
His successor, new Education Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera, has come under fire over her decision to have her children attend a private school.
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