A group of determined mothers have started a campaign to demand that the French government changes how it decides in which schools children are placed. They say a ‘social apartheid’ condemns their children to attend schools where every pupil is of immigrant origin, creating a divide among communities. Photo: The National
The initiative, named “la mixite’”, calls for the adoption of secular laws and the promotion of inclusion to make schools "more French." Campaigners have staged rallies and visited several schools in Petit Bard estate, where about 5,000 Muslim families of Moroccan background live, to advocate integration.
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Safia, a mother of three, who is among the campaign leaders, called for the end of the ‘ghettoisation’ of French schools where every pupil is of immigrations origin. She added, “That is exactly what we are fighting for. “We’d love it if class photographs showed fair-haired or red-headed children side by side with our children.”
Activists have also launched a Facebook page and sent letters to the city hall, the local education authority and France’s Morocco-born education minister, Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, who is the first woman in French history to hold this office. Muslim mothers hope that Belkacem, who has been vocal on many aspects of discrimination in French society, will support their cause.
Muslims mothers have criticised the move from a more mixed environment and have said that the change confirmed the ghetto status in the country. One mother, Fatima, said, “We suddenly realised our children would go all the way from nursery school to the end of secondary school without discovering the cultures of others or the art of different communities living together.”
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Renaud Calvat, a councillor with responsibility for education, has supported the Muslim mothers cause, saying, “Parents should be allowed to send their children to any schools of their choice out of Ghettos.”
Safia and other Muslim mothers feel that changes are being made but at a slow pace. “We have made a difference. Attitudes have changed a little but there’s a long way to go. I hope we will achieve much more before they leave school,” added Safia, whose children are aged between six and 10.
This article originally appeared on The National.
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