Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Sunday that her government plans to ban burqas and niqabs in schools, cap the number of foreign students in classrooms and require Italian language lessons for some foreign students’ parents.
The proposals come as immigration is expected to remain a prominent issue ahead of Italy’s general election next year.
Speaking at the Gioventù Nazionale national festival in Rome, organized by the youth wing of her nationalist conservative Brothers of Italy party, Meloni said language lessons would become compulsory for parents of foreign students who have “serious difficulties integrating into the school system.”
Meloni said people seeking to build their future in Italy should learn Italian, understand the country’s culture and respect its rules.
She specifically referred to banning the burqa, which covers the entire face, and the niqab, which generally leaves only the eyes visible.
She did not mention the hijab.
Meloni also said her government would establish a legal cap on foreign students in individual classes.
Italy already has a 30 percent limit on foreign students per class and school, but Meloni did not specify how the proposed measure would alter that threshold.
Foreign students currently account for about 12 percent of enrolment in Italian schools.
Once approved by the government, the measures would require parliamentary approval within 60 days to become law.
Italy does not expressly prohibit burqas or niqabs, although a 1975 law bars helmets or garments that make identification difficult without a justified reason.
A 2008 ruling clarified that full-face coverings can be worn for religious or cultural reasons provided the wearer reveals their face when identification is required.
The League, a member of Meloni’s governing coalition, introduced legislation earlier this year seeking broader restrictions on garments or helmets that obscure identification, with specified exceptions.
The National Future party, which is further to the right of Brothers of Italy and has risen in polls since February, also called for a crackdown on burqas in schools in July.
Meloni’s government earlier this month became Italy’s longest-serving uninterrupted administration since World War II.