Italy to ban veils in schools, limit foreign students per class, Meloni says
Italy is planning to introduce a ban on face coverings in schools and impose limits on the number of foreign students allowed in each classroom, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has announced.
Meloni made the announcement on Sunday while reaffirming her right-wing political stance at a youth event organised by her Brothers of Italy party.
Italy remains one of the European countries most exposed to migrant arrivals due to its location in the central Mediterranean, making immigration a contentious issue and a major challenge for successive governments.
The integration of migrants, particularly those from Muslim-majority countries, continues to generate debate in Italian politics and society, with disagreements frequently arising over religious symbols, cultural integration, citizenship regulations and immigration policies.
Speaking at the annual gathering of her party’s youth wing, Meloni said a proposal would soon be presented to the Cabinet to establish a legal limit on the number of foreign students in each classroom.
She said the proposed measures would also require parents of foreign students experiencing significant difficulties integrating into the school system to learn Italian, while prohibiting the wearing of burqas and niqabs in schools.
Meloni argued that when only a small number of students in a classroom struggle to understand Italian, they can learn the language and integrate with support from teachers and classmates. However, she said that when such students make up a large proportion of the class, or even the majority, the situation amounts to neglect rather than integration.
She did not disclose the specific limit the government intends to set for foreign students in each classroom.
According to research institution Fondazione ISMU, students without Italian citizenship account for 11.6% of all pupils enrolled in Italian schools.
Meloni also defended the proposed face-covering ban, insisting that students should attend school with their faces uncovered.
She said no one in Italy should be allowed to compel a young woman to conceal her face in the name of what she described as a real or supposed tradition.
Source: Reuters
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