London, September 16
With the government ban on the wearing of the religious dress in the schools, forcing many Sikh students to drop out in France, the community has opened its first school in a Paris suburb. The Sikh school was built by a local entrepreneur whose son was excluded from a public school three years ago after he had refused to remove his turban in the class, the BBC reported.

The special school in Bobigny was set up after secularisation laws in 2004 prevented Sikh boys from wearing their traditional turbans in the class prompting many to drop out of the mainstream education in protest. The French laws ban the wearing of the prominent religious symbols such as Muslim headscarves or Sikh turbans in the public places like offices or the schools.

Although the school will celebrate its inauguration over the weekend, it is unlikely to begin classes on Monday. — PTI