Some teachers in France say they censor themselves to avoid confrontation with pupils and parents over religion and free speech, a problem brutally exposed when a teacher was beheaded after showing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in class.

History teacher Samuel Paty had shown the images mocking the Prophet in a lesson on freedom of expression, pictures first published by the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in 2006 that led to a deadly Islamist attack on its offices.