About 12 million students are returning to schools in France today with the recent ban on the Muslim abaya (the long and loose dress worn over clothing) taking hold.

The Minister of the Interior Gerald Darmanen sent a message to law enforcements to highlight “the sensitive nature of this back-to-school” regarding attacks on secularism in schools.

“There are 513 buildings that we have identified as potentially problematic in terms of this issue at the start of the school year,” French Education Minister Gabriel Atal told RTL radio.

The general secretary of the CGT union, Sophie Binet, for her part considered it “very dangerous to go back to school in the wake of the ban.”

“It hides the real questions” and “stigmatizes a section of the population”, she estimated on the public channel France 2.

As provided for in the 2004 law prohibiting the use of conspicuous religious symbols, unruly students will be accepted by the institution but not in the classroom and a phase of dialogue between the family and the national education system will begin.

While head teachers have welcomed the ban, many educators believe the abaya issue “shouldn’t hide the real problems on the ground”.

Indeed, the start of the new school year is once again under tension due to the teacher recruitment crisis – not a new phenomenon but which has intensified since last year – with more than 3,100 vacancies in teacher competitions nationwide this year.

Emmanuel Macron confirmed on Friday that the promise of “one teacher in every classroom” at the start of the school year will be “delivered”.

According to a poll by teachers’ union SE-Unsa, which was conducted among a sample of 2,000 people, 68% of teachers surveyed said they fear there will be a shortage of staff for the start of the school year.