Jewish pupil advised against French public school for 'own safety'

He told the newspaper he “knew the boy would get beaten to a pulp” as soon as the other students discovered his background.

“Hiding my embarrassment, I asked the mother whether she had considered enrolling her boy at Yavneh,” he said.

When the mother replied that the Jewish school was full, Mr Ravet intervened and managed to get the boy accepted, he told L’Express.

Mr Ravet said a journalist had previously interviewed children at his school and asked if there were any Jewish pupils there. Mr Ravet said he had “a chill down my back” when he heard one reply: “If there are, then they have to hide it.”

Only a third of Jewish pupils now attend public schools in France – compared with three decades ago when the majority did. The rest attend either Jewish or private schools, according to Francis Kalifat, the president of the CRIF Jewish umbrella group in France.

In an interview with JTA last year Mr Kalifat said: “In the Paris region, there are virtually no more Jewish pupils attending public schools.” He blamed the trend on “a bad atmosphere of harassment, insults and assaults” against Jewish pupils, as well as the growth of the Jewish education system.