This is undoubtedly one of the most commented announcements from the press conference held by Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday January 16.
Often mentioned by political leaders, the uniform will make a comeback in French classrooms.
Will all of Gaul be standardized in this way?
Not quite.
Only around a hundred establishments, all volunteers, will test the unique and regulatory outfit from the start of the school year in September.
If the experience is conclusive, the measure could then be extended to the entire territory in 2026.
Also read: Uniform at school: Florange, Dreux, Puteaux... the list of candidate cities for its experiment
So in which cities will you perhaps soon be able to come across children dressed in uniform?
The government has already communicated a first list of establishments pre-selected for this experiment.
Data that we completed using information from our regional correspondents.
For the moment, 129 applications spread across 79 municipalities have been accepted by the Ministry of National Education (favorable opinion or ongoing consultation).
Among them, there are 71 nursery or primary schools, 16 middle schools and 11 high schools (certain types of establishments are not yet specified).
Please note that applications are not submitted directly by establishments but by communities (municipalities for nursery and primary schools, departments for middle schools and regions for high schools).
Among the most motivated, the cities of Nice (Alpes-Maritimes), led by Christian Estrosi (Horizons, ex LR) and Troyes (Aube), headed by François Baroin (LR), have 7 preselected establishments each.
Saint-Doulchard (Cher) and Tourcoing (North), a city of which the current Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, was mayor for almost four years, complete this podium (5 applications each accepted).
For the moment, the establishments chosen by the communities must still define the terms of implementation of the uniform with their respective administrations, but also with the parents of the students.
The final list should be known by the start of the 2024 school year.