Al-Qaeda has seized upon ongoing efforts to secularize education and stop radicalization in North Africa in order to whip up Muslims into fighting against the "war on Islam" countries of Algeria and Tunisia. Algerian Education Minister Nouria Benghabrit publicly supported the decision of an Algerian school in Paris to stop a student from praying during the school day. "Students go to school for education,” Benghabrit said, adding that prayer "is meant to be done at home, not at school." If they are not confronted, the generation that will graduate from this system will have nothing to do with the original foundations of islam." Schools teaching Quranic study under the supervision of the country's Ministry of Religious Affairs are allowed in Tunisia, but independent madrassas are outlawed.

Source: The North Africa Journal February 14, 2019 06:11 UTC