Paris, November 27: A Muslim teacher has been dismissed form work in France for refusing to remove her Islamic Hijab or shaking hands with male colleagues due to her religious beliefs.

The teacher had just started apprenticeship at a primary school in Toulouse.

The school’s disciplinary committee which expelled her says it was defending secularism in public schools.

France is home to the largest Muslim population among the 27 European Union member states. Nearly 10 percent of the 62 million people living in France are Muslim.