Muslim High School in Lille Loses Appeal for State Funding

No public subsidies for the private Muslim high school Averroès from the 2024-2025 school year. On Monday, the administrative court of Lille confirmed its position, ruling that "given the information submitted to it, there is no need to maintain the association contract linking the Averroès high school to the State until the decision to terminate this contract, taken by the prefect of the North, is examined by the judges on the merits," reports Saphirnews. Last February, the court had confirmed the cessation of public subsidies from the 2024-2025 school year, decided by decree of the prefect of the North in December 2023. Since 2019, the Hauts-de-France region has decided to deprive the high school of the subsidy provided for in the contract. It blames Averroès, in particular a Qatari donation of 950,000 euros in 2014.

The various measures taken by the high school to put an end to the shortcomings identified have apparently not convinced the court. According to the judges, "while there could be serious doubt about the regularity of the procedure followed before the decision to terminate was made, as well as the validity of certain of the criticisms addressed by the prefect to the Averroès high school, the two shortcomings identified in February, even if they had given rise to corrective measures, still prevented the provisional resumption of the association contract, given the nature of these shortcomings." The magistrates also noted a third shortcoming which, "by its gravity, is likely to justify the refusal to provisionally maintain the contract pending the judgment on the merits." This "relates to the irregular constitution, by the director of the establishment at the time, of a file listing certain personal data of the Education National agents who intervened during a previous inspection, in particular their name and photograph."

The cessation of subsidies will have a negative impact on the private Muslim high school Averroès. The management of the establishment will be forced to significantly increase the school fees of the students in order to compensate for the huge loss that served, among other things, to pay the teachers. School fees could go from 1,350 to 2,760 € per year. About 210 out of 470 students, namely scholarship holders and students whose parents will no longer be able to afford the school, will no longer be able to attend the high school.