Italy: Meloni’s government bans burqas in schools

Tougher rules in schools

EU country decides to ban burqa

Stricter rules in Italy’s schools: In the future there will be a ban on the burqa as well as an upper limit for students with little knowledge of Italian.

Italy’s government has decided to ban burqas and niqabs in schools and set new limits for foreign students with insufficient knowledge of Italian. In the future, foreigners with a lack of language skills should make up a maximum of 30 percent of a class, as the right-wing head of government Giorgia Meloni announced on Thursday. Meloni announced the new regulation at the end of last week.

According to Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara, the decree now passed by her cabinet is primarily aimed at newly immigrated students. In Italy Children born or students who have already attended an Italian kindergarten should generally not be included.

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According to Valditara, there are currently around 34,000 classes in which more than 30 percent of the students are of foreign origin. Most of them are not affected by the new regulation.

If a child has significant difficulties integrating into school, social services should be involved. The parents then have to attend free Italian courses. Anyone who fails to comply with this obligation must expect a fine of up to 1,000 euros.

A 30 percent limit for foreign students per class has been in effect in Italy since 2010. However, this was previously flexible and could be increased or decreased depending on the language skills of the students concerned.

Facial veils, on the other hand, have been banned in Italy since 1975. Clothing that makes identification difficult without a valid reason has been in effect since 1975. However, the country’s highest administrative court ruled in 2008 that full veiling for religious or cultural reasons is permissible as long as the face is shown for identification.

Ahead of the parliamentary elections planned for 2027, migration and integration are among the most important election campaign issues in Italy. At the same time, Meloni is facing competition from the right from Reserve General Roberto Vannacci’s Futuro Nazionale (FN) party, which was only founded in February. She is not part of the governing coalition and has since made significant gains in the polls. The FN had already called for stricter action against burqas in schools in July.

The regulation that has now been decided is a so-called decree law. This is a measure that the Italian government can initially decide on without parliamentary approval. However, it must be converted into law by Parliament within 60 days of publication.

According to the Italian constitution, legislative decrees are intended for emergencies. Governments of different political persuasions have been using this instrument regularly for many years – despite criticism from Italian constitutional lawyers.