Italy to ban niqabs in schools, PM Meloni says

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Italy will ban burqas and niqabs in schools and limit the number of foreign students per class, far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Sunday.

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Italy is a frontline country for migration, and integration is a major campaign issue ahead of a general election next year.

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“A measure will soon be presented to a cabinet meeting to legally establish a maximum number of foreign students per class,” Meloni told a gathering of the youth wing of her Brothers of Italy (FdI) party.

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“It also requires parents of foreign students facing serious difficulties integrating into the school system to learn Italian, and bans burqas and niqabs in schools,” she said.

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A crackdown on the use of burqas in schools was called for in July by the National Future (FN) party.

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The FN, which is not part of the governing coalition, is further to the right than Meloni’s and has emerged as a major challenger, rising sharply in the polls since launching in February.

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While there is no law in Italy that expressly bans burqas, either in schools or in public places, a 1975 law prohibits the use of helmets or garments that make identification difficult without a justified reason.

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In 2008, Italy’s highest administrative court clarified that full-face veils may be worn for religious or cultural reasons provided that the face is revealed when identity verification is required.

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The anti-immigrant League party, which is part of Meloni’s coalition, submitted a bill to the Senate earlier this year that would ban helmets or garments except for in certain circumstances, such as sporting events or places of worship.

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The limit on the number of foreign students per class already exists under Italian law, and Meloni did not spell out how that would change.

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Foreign students account for just under 12% of those enrolled in Italian schools, according to the National Statistics Institute (ISTAT).

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Since 2010 the number of foreign students has been limited to 30 percent of a class and of a school’s enrolment.

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The limit can be raised in cases involving foreign students with adequate language skills, such as foreign students born in Italy, or lowered when foreign students have a poor command of Italian.

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AFP

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