"The first day of school is going smoothly, the pupils have gone into their schools, everything is normal," said Hanifa Cherifi, member of an education ministry crisis team set up to monitor implementation of the "secularity law".

Cherifi told AFP there were "no indications that students have refused to remove conspicuous religious insignia", which are prohibited under the law passed by the center-right government of President Jacques Chirac in March.

Though the law does not single out any specific faith -- Jewish skullcaps, large Christian crosses and Sikh turbans are banned along with headscarves -- many in France's five-million-strong Muslim community believe the hijab worn by teenage girls is the main target.