Meloni plans burqa, niqab ban in schools ‘You go to school with uncovered face’
By Anjali Sharma
WASHINGTON – Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Monday has said that Italy is preparing to ban burqas and niqabs in schools while putting a legal ceiling on the number of foreign students allowed in each classroom.
Over 930,000 pupils without Italian citizenship were enrolled in Italy’s schools in 2023-24, accounting for an estimated 11.6% of the country’s school population.
The proposed measures go beyond what students can wear.
Parents of foreign pupils facing serious integration difficulties at school would be required to learn Italian.
Meloni said the package would soon be presented to the Council of Ministers. The government has not yet disclosed the proposed classroom limit.
She unveiled the proposals at Fenix in Rome on Sunday, an event organised by the youth wing of her Brothers of Italy party. Italian reports also confirm the measures announced at the event.
Meloni cast the proposed face-covering ban as both a school rule and an issue of equality between women and men.
“Because you go to school with an uncovered face, and because in Italy, no one, in the name of a real or presumed tradition, can decide that a young woman must hide herself. Gender equality is non-negotiable—not on our streets, and not in our schools,” she said.
She also tied the broader package to her government’s approach towards integration.
“For us, anyone who comes to Italy and wants to build their future here must learn our language, know our culture, and respect our rules. It is the only serious way to welcome people,” Meloni said.
The proposal would make learning Italian obligatory for parents of foreign students who face severe difficulties integrating into the school system.
The other major change would set a maximum number of foreign students in an individual class.
“So, a measure is about to reach the Council of Ministers that legally introduces a limit on the number of foreign students per class. A maximum number, clearly,” Meloni said.
She said the same measure would cover the language requirement for parents as well as the ban on burqas and niqabs.
No figure for the proposed maximum has yet been announced.
Around 930,000 pupils without Italian citizenship were enrolled in Italian schools in the 2023-24 academic year, according to estimates by Fondazione ISMU.
They represented 11.6 per cent of the country’s school population. The institute’s latest report confirms both figures.
Meloni used her Fenix address to speak about higher education and changes to medical school admissions.
She said her government had scrapped the multiple-choice entrance test, argued that the system unfairly restricted opportunities for aspiring students.
“We scrapped this infernal mechanism because if you want to play the lottery, you buy a New Year’s ticket—you don’t enrol in university,” she said.
The school integration package is still at the proposal stage.
Meloni said it is set to go before the Council of Ministers, with key details including the proposed maximum number of foreign students in a class yet to be specified.
