French First Lady Brigitte Macron in favour of mandatory school uniforms

President Emmanuel Macron's wife Brigitte on Thursday weighed into the politically charged debate in France on whether to introduce compulsory school uniforms just ahead of a debate in parliament on the issue pushed by the far-right.

Uniforms in French schools have not been obligatory since 1968, but have regularly come back on the political agenda.

"It erases differences, we save time - it's time-consuming to choose how to dress in the morning - and money - compared to brands", French First Lady Brigitte Macron told Le Parisien newspaper in an interview.

A retired Latin and literature teacher of 20 years, Brigitte, who met her later husband Emmanuel in one of her after-school theatre classes, recalled wearing a uniform for fifteen years, a navy blue skirt and sweater as a student, telling the paper she coped with it well.

"So I am in favour of wearing a school uniform but with a simple and not dull outfit," Macron said.

The National Assembly is slated to debate compulsory school uniforms later on Thursday after Marine Le Pen's far-right Rassemblement National (RN) filed a motion to make wearing a uniform mandatory again.

Education minister Pap Ndiaye has previously said he was against imposing a uniform for all pupils.

For some, wearing a uniform means equality and erasing differences of social status and wealth. For others it is a debate that is not needed and is distracting from more serious issues such as discipline and harassment.