The parents’ association of the Averroès Muslim high school has filed a complaint for discrimination against the prefect of the North, after the latter’s decision to terminate the contract linking this high school to the State, its lawyer said on Friday April 26.
The association’s lawyer, Me Nabil Boudi, called on the courts to take “of these very serious facts, namely religious discrimination”, confirming having filed this complaint revealed by RTL on Thursday. According to the complaint, “it is the reason for the confession of the members of the association which led the Prefect to terminate the contract”.
In December 2023, the then prefect, Georges-François Leclerc, decided to terminate from the start of the 2024 school year the association contract under which the State finances the salaries of teachers at the main Muslim high school in France.
He accused the establishment, open for 20 years and regularly ranked among the best in the region, of having provided teaching “contrary to the values of the Republic”.
“Severity”
The complainants accuse the prefect of having “voluntarily” ignored the National Education inspection reports, and compare the criticisms made to Averroès and to the Parisian Catholic establishment Stanislas.
“Only the Averroès high school faces such severity”argues the parents’ association in its complaint, adding that “this obvious difference in treatment clearly characterizes the discriminatory motive”.
The management of the Averroès high school affirmed at the beginning of April that it would be able to ensure ” one way or another “ the start of the 2024 school year, while calling for donations because the end of the association contract jeopardizes the future of the establishment.
