Both the Paris prosecutor’s office and the local prosecutor said the teacher was being questioned, and that the story about the attack had been based on his testimony.
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A preschool teacher in France has been stabbed by an Islamic State (ISIS) supporter, media reported on Monday.
The teacher’s wounds are not life-threatening, and authorities are now searching for the attacker, whose identity remains unknown.
The victim is a teacher at the Jean-Perrin d’Aubervilliers school in the commune of Aubervilliers in the northeastern Parisian department of Seine-Saint-Denis.
France has been under a state of emergency since co-ordinated attacks in and around Paris last month left 130 dead and more than 350 wounded.
The attacker fled after stabbing the teacher and the probe has been taken over by anti-terrorist investigators.
Sometime later he revealed that the entire report was a hoax, leaving authorities to determine not only why he made up the story but also the circumstances behind it.
In the days immediately after the attacks, French police carried out hundreds of raids across the country, as the search for suspects continued. No children were present during the attack, which was witnessed by other staff members at the school. Law enforcement officials have increased security at schools in the wake of the November 13 attacks.
Mayor of Aubervilliers Pascal Beaudet said it was not yet known what had motivated the teacher to lie.
In its November edition, ISIL’s French-language magazine called for followers to kill teachers in the French education system, describing them as “enemies of Allah”, AFP said.
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Education Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem rushed to the site and pledged that the government would continue to strengthen security measures in schools.
