This is the best summary I could come up with:

PARIS, Aug 28 (Reuters) - The French government’s decision to ban children from wearing the abaya, the loose-fitting, full-length robes worn by some Muslim women, in state-run schools drew applause on Monday from the right, but also criticism.

France has enforced a ban on religious symbols in state schools since 2004, to uphold its strict brand of secularism, known as “laicite”.

“Our schools are continually put under test, and over the past months, breaches to laicite have increased considerably, in particular with (pupils) wearing religious attire like abayas and kameez,” Education Minister Gabriel Attal told a news conference to explain Sunday’s ban.

The SNPDEN-UNSA union of school principals welcomed the decision, saying what it needed above all was clarity from the government, its national secretary, Didier Georges, told Reuters.

They will, once again, feel stigmatised," said sociologist Agnes De Feo, who has been researching French women wearing niqab for the past decade.

Riffi said there was a wider fashion trend among female high school students, who buy long dresses and kimonos online.

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