France has banned female Muslims from wearing the loose-fitting Abaya to state institutions, as it depicts the Muslim religion.
Female children in state schools in the country would along be allowed to wear abaya to class.
The French education minister announced the ban on Sunday ahead of the school term starting at the start of September.
The abaya is usually defined as a loose over-garment, essentially a robe-like dress, frequently worn by women in parts the Arabian Peninsula, most of the Middle East and sometimes in North Africa.
France has banned women from wearing headscarves to school since 2004. They have established strict laws on religious symbols to school.
“When you walk into a classroom, you shouldn’t be able to identify the pupils’ religion just by looking at them,” education minister Gabriel Attal said.
“I have decided that the abaya could no longer be worn in schools.”
In 2010, France banned full face veils in public, angering some in its five million-strong Muslim community.
The country is governed by strong rules on secularity that mean no displays of religion in public institutions.
