Paris, May 27: France’s oldest and most successful Muslim school is on the verge of collapse over financial problems, with many pointing the fingers at the government for denying it the same grants given to all faith schools.
“We are collapsing under the weight of our debts,” Yvonne Fazilleau, the headteacher of Réussite (Ibn Rushd) school, told.
The school has debts to the tune of €300,000 and is on the brink of bankruptcy.
“Last week our accountant said to me: ‘We are penniless’.”
Fazilleau says the school managed to stay afloat last year through charity.
“The only opportunity for us is to go out and beg.”
Now the school administration says they have enough money to pay salaries for the next two months, but after that, the future is unknown.
“A lot of the teachers here really don’t know what to do,” Monya Zalila, who teaches English, told the British daily.
“Many feel sad and angry that we still don’t have any money,” she added.
“One teacher told me that if we are not paid again she will have to leave and look for another job.”
The government approved the establishment of Réussite in July of 2003 to be the country’s first secondary Muslim school.
During its short history, the school, which follows the same curriculum as state schools, became one of the most successful schools nationwide.
Last year, it had a 100% success rate in baccalaureat (secondary certificate), compared with a local pass rate of 81 percent.
Condemned to death
The school administration blames the government for not trying to lift it out of the current financial crisis.
It cites the government’s refusal to give the Muslim school the state grants given to all other faith schools.
“We have applied three times. Each time they say that some papers are missing from our file,” said Fazilleau.
“But I was the person in charge of sending the file, and I can assure you nothing was missing.”
Under the French law, faith schools that abide by the state schools curriculum and submit to inspections are eligible for government grants.
Over 8,000 Jewish and Christian schools are funded in this way, according to the Guardian.
None of France’s four French Muslim schools gets such funding.
“This is my country. It’s supposed to be a fair country,” fumes Fazilleau, a French convert.
“I feel ashamed to say it, but it is obvious there is discrimination, almost segregation, against Muslim people in France,” she said.
“They just don’t want to give us the money.”
Repercussion
Fazilleau is not optimistic about the future of her Muslim school.
“If nobody helps us soon, we will simply have to close.”
She warns that the school closure would have negative impact on the whole Muslim community, estimated at nearly seven millions.
“This school, this enterprise, is not just for those of us who attend it.
“We are sort of pioneers. If we have to close down, this will be a terrible blow for the Muslim community in France.”
For many French Muslims, Islamic schools have been the only resort since the government banned hijab in state schools four years ago.
“Friends of mine who go to state schools wear their headscarf outside school, but take it off at the school gates,” notes Selma Ikhafoulma, a 15-year-old student who attends Réussite.
“I wouldn’t feel comfortable doing that.”
-Agencies