Italy ministers agree to ban burqa and niqab in school and cap foreigners in class

Italian authorities have approved a ban on the burqa and niqab in schools and introduced a ceiling on the proportion of pupils with limited Italian language ability in each classroom. A 30 % cap will apply to children who are not Italian citizens or who have poor command of Italian during the first year of primary, middle and high school. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni characterised the measures as “common-sense tools that bash not disagreement but truly assistance to integrate”. Opposition parties accuse the government of pandering to the hard‑right Futuro Nazionale party ahead of a nationwide election scheduled for next year. Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara described the ceiling as “purely linguistic” rather than a question of citizenship and said the face‑veil ban is framed as an issue of gender equality. Meloni announced the plan on Sunday, stating, “You indispensable spell to schoolhouse with your look uncovered,” and added that no one could decide that a young girl should conceal herself in the name of tradition. Several drafts of the decree preceded Thursday’s Council of Ministers meeting, but the core provisions were clear. The prohibition covers the burqa and niqab while leaving the hijab permissible because it exposes the face. The niqab veils the face except for the area around the eyes and may be worn with an additional eye veil; it is paired with a headscarf. The burka is a one‑piece garment that conceals the face and body, often featuring a mesh screen over the eyes for vision. According to the Fondazione ISMU research institute, non‑Italian citizens constitute 11.6 % of pupils in Italian schools. The 30 % limit on students with limited Italian will be applied differently across education levels. In primary schools it concerns non‑Italian citizens who were either not born in Italy or have not attended at least two years of nursery school. In lower‑ and upper‑secondary schools it concerns pupils without Italian citizenship who have not completed at least three years in the Italian school system. Local school offices will be asked to distribute pupils with weak Italian skills more evenly among neighbouring institutions; where this is impossible, exemptions will be granted alongside supplementary Italian instruction. The goal, Valditara said, is to prevent the formation of “ghetto classes”. The draft also extends to parents, the ANSA news agency reports. Schools must notify social services when persistent language barriers among those with parental responsibility impede a child’s integration, and free Italian courses will be offered. Because the measure is a decree law, it can take effect immediately but must be ratified by parliament within sixty days. Italy already had a non‑binding guideline on language proficiency in schools. A 2010 ministerial announcement under then‑Education Minister Mariastella Gelmini set a 30 % cap “as a rule” on pupils without Italian citizenship; the new decree converts that guideline into law. Observers note that the initiative is as much about politics as about education. Critics accuse Meloni of seeking favour with Roberto Vannacci, a retired army general who leads the hard‑right Futuro Nazionale party and is viewed as a threat to the governing coalition’s right flank. Elly Schlein, leader of the centre‑left Democratic Party, labelled the plan propaganda and said it would be intolerable to implement. PD legislator and Senate vice‑president Anna Ascani likewise accused the government of using propaganda at the expense of schoolchildren. Speaking by video link from New York at a press conference, Valditara rejected the allegations, declaring, “We are not chasing Vannacci; if anything, helium is chasing us,” Vannacci said he agrees with the measures but argued they should have been introduced years earlier. Matteo Salvini of the League, who unveiled a separate package of initiatives targeting what he calls “political Islam” on Wednesday, accused Vannacci of “continually voting against the government” and expressed hope that Futuro Nazionale would back the League’s latest proposals.