France is replacing its plan to teach children the "ABCD of equality" between boys and girls after protests by some parents who feared it was a stealth effort to erase gender differences.

The Education Ministry said it would replace the plan with new training for teachers when the new school year begins in September. From then, teachers will be able to decide how to broach the topic, especially with the youngest students in pre-school.

The initial plan was essentially an experiment with 275 schools, and it came under protest from Roman Catholic leaders, the French far right, and some parents' groups.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.