France's 12 million pupils are back at school after the summer break. In a nation that prides itself on its state education system, hot topics include a lack of teachers, exam reform, the skyrocketing cost of supplies for parents and how to tackle bullying. But the education ministry's ban on the abaya, the loose-fitting dress worn by some women in Muslim countries, dominated headlines in the buildup to this first Monday of September.
Opponents contest the religious nature of the abaya, while proponents insist it's only right to enforce the 2004 law forbidding conspicuous religious symbols in school.
