Enforcement
The law came into effect on 2 September 2004, with the new school year. In September 2005, the Ministry of Education reported that only 12 students showed up with distinctive religious signs in the first week of classes, compared to 639 in the preceding year. A number of students have elected to take distance-learning classes from CNED. There is a case of a Sikh student in the académie of Créteil, who refused to remove his turban.
As a consequence of the law, the years following the ban has seen an increasing number of Islamic secondary schools being established, Muslim female students increasingly choosing to study at home, some shaving their hair, and others migrating away from France with their families.
The French decision caused a strong cry from many Muslims all over the world seeing it as a violation of freedom of practicing their religion. In addition to protests in Paris, there were also protests in other European cities and other countries, especially Muslim countries, worldwide when the law was enacted. Thousands of Muslim women demonstrated across universities in Egypt against the French decision. There were also protests in France by many Muslim groups.
Read more about this topic: French Law On Secularity And Conspicuous Religious Symbols In Schools