For or against the school uniform: the 5 arguments at the heart of the debate

The debate on wearing a school uniform is revived by the National Rally. The party has indeed tabled a bill to this effect Thursday, January 12 in the National Assembly, which rejected it in the evening. The far-right group used its annual parliamentary niche to submit its proposal for a “uniform dress” obligation in schools. A formula to which Marine Le Pen was attached, who wanted each school to retain the choice of the cut and color of the garment. If the text was rejected in committee on December 14, it sparked a wave of reactions in the political and media sphere.

Indeed, the debate led to a debate and an initiative of the parliamentary majority. A working group of around ten members has been set up among Renaissance deputies to work on the subject and potentially lead to a bill “on an experimental basis”. Government supported experiments. Questioned by BFMTV-RMC on December 12, Gabriel Attal declared that this obligation is one of the subjects which could give rise to experiments and that he strongly believes in the autonomy of schools. First Lady Brigitte Macron said she was in favor of wearing a school uniform in an interview with Le Parisien on January 10.

I wore the uniform as a student: 15 years of navy blue skirt, navy blue sweater. And I lived it well. It erases the differences, we save time – it’s time-consuming to choose how to dress in the morning – and money – compared to brands. So I am for wearing a school uniform, but with a simple and not sad outfit, has indeed confided Brigitte Macron.

A declaration which arouses controversy in the political class, and which comes above all to contradict the assertions of the Minister of Education of the majority. Imposing the wearing of uniform on all students is ‘no’, said Pap Ndiaye. The minister all the same specified that the establishments had “complete freedom, by a modification of the internal regulations, to impose school uniform if the educational authorities vote for it, as is the case in Overseas”.

On the left, the measure sparks outrage. Benjamin Lucas, ecologist deputy for the 8th district of Yvelines, quoted General de Gaulle in the hemicycle to mock the nostalgia for a school of the past fantasized about the National Rally. “Brigitte Macron has spent her entire career in private Catholic education, which obviously gives her the legitimacy to lecture on how to dress in public and secular school establishments,” he said. he notably tweeted. According to him, “hand in hand with the RN, Brigitte Macron rushes into the great delirium of wearing a school uniform”.

As a reminder, on the right the measure is sustained. Senator LR from Paris Céline Boulay-Espéronnier notably tabled a bill aimed at “making the wearing of school uniform compulsory”. A measure to which 63% of French people said they were in favor according to a BVA survey for Orange and RTL published in 2020.