Muslim schoolgirl told skirt is too long under French laws

The 15-year-old student, identified only as Sarah. Photo / Facebook, Guillaume Levy

France's controversial ban on religious clothing in state schools has come under attack after a 15-year-old Muslim girl was sent home twice for wearing a long black skirt.

The 2004 ban includes Islamic headscarves, the Jewish kippa, or skullcap, large Christian crosses or any other "ostentatious sign of religion".

But schools' interpretation of the ban has come under scrutiny after a girl, named as Sarah K, was sent home twice this month from the Leo Lagrange high school in the eastern town of Charleville-Mezieres.

A local education official said the girl was asked to come back with neutral clothing "and it seems her father did not want the pupil to return to school".

The girl herself told the local newspaper, L'Ardennais, that her skirt was "nothing special, it's very simple, there's nothing conspicuous. There's no religious sign at all."

Sarah K had removed her headscarf before entering the school. Her story was trending on Twitter in France with the hashtag #JePorteMaJupeCommeJeVeux, or "I wear my skirt as I please".

The student was sent home twice for wearing a long black skirt deemed to violate secular rules on school clothing. Photo / Facebook, Guillame Levy

One tweet read: "If it's worn by a 'white' person, it's hippy chic, if it's a Muslim, it becomes conspicuous."

The newspaper Le Monde asked if a long skirt could be considered to be "an attack on secularism".

About 130 schoolgirls were sent home for wearing long skirts last year across the country.

Leo Lagrange's head teacher has offered to meet Sarah K's parents, but the school defended its decision, saying it came in the context of "other more visible incidents related to the wearing of headscarves".

Muslim leaders say the row is an example of rising discrimination in France in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris in January.