The new Minister of National Education recently said he was in favor of experimenting with wearing school uniforms. The mayor of Béziers announced on Monday that his city was a candidate.
Should we expect a return to wearing school uniforms? Newly appointed to the post of Minister of National Education, Gabriel Attal gave a river interview to Midi Libre at the end of July. Interview in which the question of authority within the school and that of the wearing of religious outfits were successively addressed, the abaya, traditional outfit worn by women in Muslim countries of the Middle East, being particularly targeted. Believing that “the National Education institution must be the institution of respect for authority” and judging that “coming to school in an abaya is a religious gesture, aimed at testing the resistance of the Republic on the secular sanctuary that must to constitute the School”, Gabriel Attal had in the process been questioned on his position concerning the return of the uniform, a solution regularly put forward by certain political figures.
The new Minister of National Education, however, has been cautious about this. “If the educational community of an establishment asks to experiment with it, for example, within the framework of the National Council for Refoundation, I am in favor of it”, he indicated, underlining in passing that it is “ already the case in some establishments overseas”. If Gabriel Attal defended the idea that “experimentation is always useful for advancing the debate, one way or the other”, he nevertheless said he was “realistic”. “Can we imagine that it would be a magic solution to solve all the problems on its own? I don’t think so,” he concluded.
It was enough for Robert Ménard to volunteer. From this Monday, August 7, the mayor of Béziers declared on the airwaves of France Bleu to respond “present to Mr. Attal” and “raise[er] hand”. Robert Ménard, however, assured that he was not “naive enough to think that the uniform or the blouse at school will solve everything”, before defending: “It can partially solve a certain number of questions.” Avoiding the “fashion race”, erasing social differences, calming “ambient narcissism”, but also “fighting against school harassment”, such would be, according to the mayor of Béziers, the advantages of a return to the uniform at school.
Rare are the schools that impose the uniform these days. Among them, we find in particular the defense high schools, former military high schools, i.e. six establishments, according to TF1 Info: the Prytanée national militaire in La Flèche, the military high schools of Aix, Autun and Saint-Cyr, the naval school in Brest and the School of Air and Space Pupils in Montbonnot-Saint-Martin. The education centers of the Legion of Honor, establishments reserved only for descendants of recipients of the Legion of Honor, also impose the uniform on their students, as does the boarding school of Excellence in Sourdun, in Seine-et -Marne (since March 2012).
If in mainland France the wearing of a school uniform is therefore rather rare, overseas, it is much more widespread. Note that it is sometimes more of an imposed outfit than a real uniform in Martinique, Guyana or Guadeloupe. For example, a t-shirt of a certain color may be requested. As reported by the regional daily L’Union, in January 2023, a third of public establishments imposed it in Martinique. According to La 1ère, in New Caledonia, since 2017, the wearing of uniforms has been generalized in schools in the southern province. On the side of Polynesia, seven colleges in Tahiti have made it compulsory.
The return of school uniforms is a recurring debate in France. However, this has never been made compulsory for all public education in metropolitan France, recalls TF1 Info. While many children have certainly put on the smock during their school years, the main purpose was to limit ink stains on clothing. An outfit that has gradually become obsolete with the advent of the ballpoint pen, relates the historian Claude Lelièvre, in his book The school of today in the light of History.
The uniforms as such were more implemented in the private sector or in public establishments claiming to be more selective. In secondary education, on the other hand, the uniform was imposed by Napoleon when the high schools were created in 1802. An obligation was lifted in 1914, but some establishments allowed the tradition to continue until, for the most resistant, 1968. It is finally the student crisis which would have forced them to abandon the uniform once and for all.
Today, as the former Minister of National Education Pap Ndiaye recalled in January 2023, “establishments, in complete freedom, by modifying their internal regulations, can [completely] impose, if they so wish, a school uniform”.
In an interview with Le Parisien and carried out by seven readers of the daily, published on January 12, 2023, Brigitte Macron declared herself in favor of wearing a school uniform. Reminding panelists of her fight against school bullying, she also spoke about why she supported schools wearing pre-designed attire.
“I wore the uniform as a student: fifteen years of navy blue skirt, navy blue sweater,” she recalled to Le Parisien. An experience of which she has fond memories. The first lady considered the advantages of standardizing outfits: it would not differentiate between students and would save money “over brands”, she argued. It would also be an opportunity for students to save time because “it’s time-consuming to choose how to dress in the morning”. If the uniform were to return to French schools, however, there would be a condition supported by Brigitte Macron: it would require “a simple and not sad outfit”.
