(Lille) The Ibn Rushd School was founded 20 years ago in the wake of the ban on the hijab in schools. It is the first contracted Islamic secondary school in France. It is now in the hot seat, as the state is considering stopping its funding, as a result of growing mistrust towards this institution, which has become Very popular.
On Monday, an “advisory committee for special education” will meet with labor to study the association’s contract signed in 2008, according to which National Education pays the wages of the teachers of this secondary school located in Lille (north) and the extracurricular staff of the region.
Since 2019, local authorities have refused to pay the support stipulated in this contract with the state, criticizing Ibn Rushd in particular for the Qatari donation of 950,000 euros in 2014.
“We believe that the contract was not respected,” said Xavier Tackett, chief of staff to the region’s president, Xavier Bertrand, who called on the National Education Authority to check whether Qatar had requested compensation.
This same push was also highlighted in a recent report by the Regional Accountability Court, which generally criticizes the high school for a lack of transparency regarding its donors.
Other complaints from the court: irregularities in the ruling, in addition to mentioning a book calling for the death penalty in case of apostasy or separation of the sexes in the bibliography of the Islamic Ethics course.
The governorate, which was contacted, did not wish to comment.
“Republican values”
The historical relationship between Ibn Rushd and the Muslims of France (formerly the International Federation of Islamic Organizations), an organization resulting from the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood movement, is implicitly referenced.
“These links are ancient but they never interfere with the work of the foundation. I am the guarantor,” swears the president of the foundation, Eric Dufour, a former teacher in the Catholic private sector.
employment? “We do exactly the opposite,” disturbs ethics professor Hala Khamousi. “We invite them to think for themselves, and give them the tools to analyze and make decisions on their own.”
The teacher asserts that the students never had the accused book, a bibliographic choice that Mr. Dufour finds unfortunate.
“Nothing” allows us to think “that teaching practices […] Do not respect the values of the Republic,” National Education ruled in a 2020 report.
With more than 800 students, including 400 contractors, Ibn Rushd remains the largest of the six contracted Islamic institutions in France. Only high school is recognized, not middle school.
The idea of creating an Islamic high school dates back to 1994, when 19 young girls were excluded from a public high school in Lille for refusing to remove their hijab to go to class, despite a Bayrou circular prohibiting “flaunting religious signs.”
“Islamic elite”
The Ibn Rushd Secondary School opened in September 2003 with about fifteen students in the mosque building located in the popular Lille Sud area, with support from the Union of Islamic Organizations in France.
The goal is to create a “Muslim elite,” according to Bernard Godard, a former senior civil servant who specializes in Islam. “They followed the model of French private Catholic institutions, aiming for excellence,” and “education separate from religion.”
With a success rate of 98% in the baccalaureate, the institution will continue to appear at the top of the weekly rankings in 2023, based on national education data.
Since 2012, it has had its own headquarters: in the teachers’ room, teachers of different religions coexist, some wearing veils and others not.
During breaks, students can meditate in the prayer room – but there’s no question of interrupting lessons to go there.
The number of boys in the class is approximately the same as the number of girls, and half of them are veiled.
Wearing the hijab at school, “It’s an advantage,” admits Jade Rumaisa, a second-year student, but it’s not his main motivation. “Here, there are teachers who will encourage me to succeed.”
Ayman Boutahar arrived at the high school after seeing the academic success of his sister, who initially enrolled there to “support the cause of Islamic high schools.” But, he says, “It’s now a high-quality high school.” “We no longer come mainly to this cause.”
