Uniforms will not come as the "miracle solution to all school problems," but they "deserve to be tested." On RTL radio on Monday, September 4, the first day of the new school year in France, Gabriel Attal reiterated his desire for a swift experiment on school uniforms. "I'll be announcing in the fall the experimental procedures that will enable this solution to be tested," said the education minister, before inviting elected officials who have "in large numbers" taken a position on the issue to "get in touch with [his] offices" to participate.
Later in the day, French President Emmanuel Macron mentioned the subject in an interview with YouTuber Hugo Travers. The president said he was open to testing uniforms or an agreed standard outfit "like a jean, a tee-shirt, and a blazer," adding such an option could prove "much more acceptable for teenagers."
A number of elected representatives have already expressed an interest in testing uniforms in schools. The latest is the Bouches-du-Rhône department president Martine Vassal (a former politician affiliated with the conservative Les Républicains party who now supports Macron). "I would like us to open a wide-ranging consultation with the national education [ministry] and parents to experiment with the wearing of uniforms in our department's middle schools," she wrote on X (formerly Twitter) on September 3. Eric Ciotti, the president of Les Républicains (LR, right), told the weekly Journal du Dimanche he also wanted to launch an experiment in middle schools located on the French Riviera, where he was elected as a Member of Parliament.
The idea of experimenting with a standard outfit or a uniform had been circulating among elected representatives and mayors of the Rassemblement National (RN) far-right party for many years. On August 31, Louis Aliot, mayor of Perpignan, southern France, formally applied to conduct an experiment: "I consider that uniforms, even if they don't solve all the problems, would nonetheless allow students to focus on what's essential, namely learning." Aliot said he believed the measure would "reduce racketeering and harassment of pupils" while deterring them "from coming to school wearing religious clothing."
In the southern town of Béziers, Mayor Robert Ménard, back by the RN, had also championed the idea as soon as he was elected in 2014. This summer, he said he still backed the concept provided that "the educational community of an institution requests it." "I'm raising my hand," he said again earlier this week.
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