Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, says her government will introduce measures to ban burqas and niqabs in schools and limit the number of foreign students in classrooms.
Meloni announced the plans on Sunday at a gathering of the youth wing of her Brothers of Italy party, saying the measures would also require parents of foreign students facing serious integration challenges to learn Italian.
She said the government would soon present a proposal to Cabinet to establish a maximum number of foreign students per class. Italy already limits foreign students to 30 per cent of a class or school’s enrolment, although exceptions apply depending on students’ language skills.
The proposed ban on full-face veils comes amid a wider political debate over migration and integration in Italy ahead of next year’s general election.
There is currently no law specifically banning burqas or niqabs, although a 1975 law restricts garments that make identification difficult without a justified reason.
Italy’s National Statistics Institute says foreign students account for just under 12 per cent of pupils enrolled in the country’s schools.
