Paris’ Only Muslim Secondary School Forced to Close Over Safety Concerns

This decision was made following an inter-ministerial inspection dated November 17, 2020, during which our students found themselves surrounded by about forty controllers, inspectors and ministerial agents, including many police officers, the establishment said in a statement. "This control was mainly intended to verify compliance with the safety standards of the establishment’s premises with regard to the ERP (Establishment Receiving the Public) regulations (...)," it explains.

"Concerned to meet the legal obligations, we had already carried out costly and significant work in order to comply with the safety standards within our premises. However, the competent authorities highlight in their observations flaws related to the safety of the building," are surprised the managers of this place of learning. They deplore that among all the structures present in this building - some of which fall under different ministries, also receiving children, some of them heavily disabled - and subject to the same regulations, only that of MHS Paris is being prosecuted and condemned.

Immediate consequence: 110 students find themselves out of school in the middle of the year, the teaching staff of 18 people find themselves without a job and the head of the establishment faces a heavy criminal conviction, all the more "unfair".

"Outraged by this disproportionate and manifestly arbitrary will of the authorities, not taking into account the well-being of the children in this unprecedented situation, we are currently putting in place collective actions for the defense of our establishment," the managers assured, calling for "responsible, supportive and peaceful support in the face of this injustice."