French far-right leader and chief of the National Front Marine Le Pen on Thursday called for an end to free education to the children of illegal immigrants in France.
One of the primary candidates for the French presidential elections 2017, Le Pen said that she does not have anything against foreigners, but they should not expect things for free after coming into the nation.
"But I tell them: if you come to our country don't expect to be taken care of, to be looked after, that your children will be educated without charge. No more playtime," she said.
Le Pen is one of the most popular candidates for the presidential elections and various polls have predicted that she will succeed in reaching the final round of the election process in May, 2017.
According to the latest opinion poll, the far-right candidate is giving a close competition in polling for the first round to centre-right candidate Francois Fillon. Fillon was the national Republican primary in November and became the Republican nominee for the presidential post. The Socialists party is scheduled to hold their primary next month, former French Prime Minister Manuel Valls quit his government post earlier this week to run for the presidential elections too.
Although earlier polls indicate a victory the far-right leader Marine Le Pen in the opening round of the election on April 23, it was later suggested that she would be defeated by the conservative candidate Francois Fillon. Several leaders have warned against the win of Le Pen and said that she would "take us out of Europe" and her policies would "ruin the working class."
There were several reports which stated that Le Pen had said that the ban on education should apply to all foreigners however, she later clarified stating that she was referring to the children of illegal immigrants, according to AFP.
Le Pen and her party has always campaigned hard against immigration, the National Front leader has campaigned to cut immigration in the country to 10,000 people per year. She has also advocated putting a stop to family reunions.