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French teachers to get training on religion after Paty beheading

By RFI
France  Thomas SamsonAFP
JUN 16, 2021 LISTEN
© Thomas Samson/AFP

French education minister Jean-Michel Blanquer is to introduce training for teachers and principals on the place of religion in schools after a new report revealed confusion and fear among teachers, exacerbated by the beheading of school teacher Samuel Paty in October 2020.

In February, the education minister commissioned a report from former schools inspector Jean-Pierre Obin, on how teachers and headteachers might be better equipped to handle the issue of secularity in schools in France.

Under French law, religion is not taught in the school curriculum of government-run schools, except as background knowledge where it is necessary to the understanding of other disciplines such as history or literature.

Staff and pupils of any religious faith are also prohibited from wearing religious symbols in state-run schools, unless very discreetly. Privately-run schools are not bound by the law.

Today's laws on secularity build on a the 1905 law that was introduced after the French Revolution as part of a raft of measures aimed at pushing back the Roman Catholic Church, which was deemed to have too much power. At the time, there were relatively few followers of other religions in France.

The reality today is not always straightforward.
In October 2020 history teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded in the suburbs of Paris by an islamist terrorist for showing cartoons of the Prophet Mahomet to pupils in a lesson on free speech.

The killing left many teachers frightened and led to a clamour for more help in dealing with parents and pupils who do not understand that religion is not part of school life in France and that there are no laws against blasphemy.

Jean- Pierre Obin's report, published on Monday describes some confusion among pupils and even among teachers about what secularity entails.

It also highlights how the historical roots of the current laws on secularity are not always understood. "Many children" Obin notes, felt that secularity was "coercive or punitive", invented to "restrict religious expression".

Teachers' self-censorship
Written after wide consultation, the report cites teachers who admit that they chose not to discuss certain subjects "to avoid incidents."

Obin also described a wish among school principals to avoid "creating waves or attracting attention" when there are clear breaches of the law on secularity among pupils.

The report stresses the need for a clear, uniform understanding of secularity at a time when, he asserted, the websites of some teacher training institutes and Education authorities are promoting a version of secularity, which is more "flexible" towards Islam.

On Monday Blanquier announced a new programme of training on the matter for all teachers so that there is a common understanding of what the idea entails and all teachers are clear about what is and is not allowed.

A thousand people will start the training in September and they will go on to train others so the programme can be rolled out more quickly – at the moment only 1% of French primary school teachers, and 4% of secondary school teachers have any official training on the issue of secularity.

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