the education minister gabriel atal says the reason behind the ban is that he says that these garmentseveal a religious identity, and religious signs and symbols have long been banned in french schools under france's very strict secular laws. well, politicians on the right and far right have welcomed the news, they've long asked for the ban, one prominent far-right politician says that wearing these sort of garments in schools is as far as he's concerned an islamic provocation he says. but politicians on the left have said that this is just another example of islamophobia, from president emmanuel macron's government, and this is just a pr stunt to try and distract from the real issues that there are, they say, in the education system. in terms of public opinion, well a recent opinion poll suggests that most people in france do support the ban. teachers unions certainly say that they welcome the clarity on the issue. they say it's going to make their life easier. but what we are seeing also is a number of young people on social media, on social networks talking about perhaps wearing lon