{{France\u2019s first \u201csecularism charter\u201d for schools is to be revealed by the country\u2019s Education Minister Vincent Peillon on Monday.}}<\/p>\n
Although the precise details of the charter\u2019s content are not yet known, it is expected to remind pupils of the strict secularist principles of France\u2019s education system and make clear that they are not allowed to miss certain classes for religious reasons.<\/p>\n
All public schools in France will be required to display the document from Monday onwards.<\/p>\n
Peillon said the charter would help to instill the \u201cvalues of the Republic\u201d in the country\u2019s young people, in an interview with French weekly Le Journal du Dimanche on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first article of our constitution states that the Republic is indivisible, democratic, social and secular,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe school must teach these values, explain their meaning, remember their history. Because if we do not teach them, do not be surprised if they were misunderstood or even ignored,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
A draft version of the charter was published online by French education news site Le Caf\u00e9 P\u00e9dagogique in July. It contained a total of 17 paragraphs outlining the education system\u2019s secularist principles and how these affect students.<\/p>\n
Paragraph 4, for example, states: “Secularism guarantees freedom of conscience for all. Everyone is free to believe or not to believe. It allows the free expression of his beliefs, respecting those of others within the limits of public order.”<\/p>\n
Another paragraph stipulates that: \u201cNo student may invoke religious or political convictions to challenge a teacher\u2019s right to teach certain parts of the curriculum.”<\/p>\n
French schools already have strict secularism rules, including a ban on wearing religious clothing or symbols.<\/p>\n
Peillon has also said he wants to introduce compulsory classes on \u201csecular morality\u201d later this year.<\/p>\n
However, some have questioned whether such measures stigmatise religion and France\u2019s Muslim minority in particular, something Peillon strongly denies.<\/p>\n
Asked by the Journal du Dimanche if the new charter conceals a certain degree of Islamophobia, his reply was a firm \u201cAbsolutely not!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSecularism is not against any religion,\u201d he said. \u201cIt provides a protected and neutral space in which to give everyone, regardless of religion, regardless of their social or geographical origin, the means to choose and build a life.\u201d<\/p>\n
France24<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
{{France\u2019s first \u201csecularism charter\u201d for schools is to be revealed by the country\u2019s Education Minister Vincent Peillon on Monday.}} Although the precise details of the charter\u2019s content are not yet known, it is expected to remind pupils of the strict secularist principles of France\u2019s education system and make clear that they are not allowed to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2000048138,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[101],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-10272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-internationl","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":{"id":2000048138,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton10272.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton10272.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton10272.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton10272.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton10272.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton10272.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10272"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10272\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000048138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10272"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=10272"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=10272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}