France: new Muslim high school

A new private Muslim highschool that will be the largest in France is hoping to get the go-ahead from the French authorities to open in the southeastern city of Lyon at the start of the country's school year in September. Although it does not yet officially exist, the school has already received 250 applications for its planned 150 places, Le Monde reported on Monday.

The planned school is the initative of France's biggest Muslim teaching association, al-Kindi, which says on its website it is "proud" to announce the new highschool in the Lyon suburb of Decines-Charpieu "if it is God's will for it to open." Al-Kindi's president, Nadkir Hakim, stresses the association's willingness to integrate "within the French school system."

The Rushd Islamic Institute announced in July that three-quarters of students passed their end-of-school Bacalaureat exam this year and gained their high school diploma. The secondary school was set up by the northern city of Lille's Muslim community in 2003 for girls who want to wear the veil - or hijab - after its was banned in France's state schools.

Source: Al-arab online (English)

See also: France: First Muslim high school

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