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Italy’s government has approved a ban on the burqa and niqab in schools, as well as a 30% limit on pupils with limited Italian-language skills in the first year of primary, lower-secondary and upper-secondary education, according to the BBC.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni described the measures as “common-sense tools” intended to support integration. She said pupils must attend school with their faces uncovered and that no one should decide that a young woman must hide her face in the name of tradition.
The ban covers the burqa and niqab but not the hijab, which leaves the face visible. A niqab covers the face while leaving the area around the eyes exposed, whereas a burqa covers the face and body, usually with a mesh screen over the eyes.
How the 30% limit will work
Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara said the limit was based on language ability rather than citizenship. Italy’s research institution Fondazione ISMU estimates that non-Italian citizens account for 11.6% of pupils in the country’s schools.
In primary schools, the measure would apply to non-Italian citizens who were not born in Italy or who did not attend at least two years of nursery school. In lower- and upper-secondary schools, it would cover pupils without Italian citizenship who had not completed at least three years in Italy’s school system.
Local education offices would be expected to distribute pupils with limited Italian skills more evenly among nearby schools. If that was not possible, schools could receive exemptions while providing additional Italian-language instruction, in an effort to prevent what Valditara called “ghetto classes”.
According to the Ansa news agency, schools would also be required to notify social services when persistent language barriers among parents or other people with parental responsibility hinder a child’s integration. Free Italian courses would be offered.
Opposition accuses government of political manoeuvring
The decree can take effect immediately but must be approved by parliament within 60 days. Italy already had guidance dating from 2010 that set a 30% limit “as a rule” for pupils without Italian citizenship; the new measure would place the limit in law.
Opposition parties accused Meloni’s government of promoting the policy to appeal to the hard-right Futuro Nazionale party before next year’s general election. The party is led by retired general Roberto Vannacci, who is viewed as a challenge to the governing coalition’s right flank.
Elly Schlein, leader of the centre-left Democratic Party, called the measures propaganda and said they would be difficult to implement. Democratic Party deputy Anna Ascani also accused the government of using schoolchildren for political purposes.
Valditara rejected the criticism during a press conference held by video link from New York. “We are not chasing Vannacci; if anything, he is chasing us,” he said.
Vannacci backed the measures but said they should have been introduced earlier. Matteo Salvini of the League, who presented separate proposals targeting what he called “political Islam”, accused Vannacci of repeatedly voting against the government and said he hoped Futuro Nazionale would support the League’s proposals.
