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Ulviyya Poladova

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Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said the government is preparing legislation to ban the wearing of burqas and niqabs in schools.

Italy’s ANSA news agency reported that the draft legislation would also introduce limits on the number of foreign students allowed in a single classroom.

According to Meloni, the measures are aimed at protecting the quality of education and improving integration. She said that a high number of children who do not speak Italian can significantly complicate the integration process.

The government also plans to make Italian-language courses mandatory for parents of foreign students in cases where families face serious difficulties with integration.

The exact number of foreign students that would be permitted in each classroom has not yet been determined.

Fondazione ISMU data shows that 11.6% of students in Italy’s schools are foreign nationals.

In early August, Education and Merit Minister Giuseppe Valditara proposed action on the full-face veil through an amendment to the security bill.

At the end of July, Futuro Nazionale - the party founded by far-right MEP Roberto Vannacci, who has backed Meloni’s proposal - tabled a resolution against the full-face veil in the Chamber of Deputies’ Culture Committee. It was approved with centre-right votes after being redrafted at the government’s request.

In March, the League introduced a bill in the Senate to amend Article 5 of the 1975 Reale law, which was introduced by then-Justice Minister Oronzo Reale during the Years of Lead to ban face coverings in public places.

Image: Ritzau Scanpix