Italian ministers have agreed measures to ban the burqa and niqab in schools and to cap the number of foreign pupils per class. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni described the plans as common-sense tools to help integration.
Italian ministers have agreed to a set of measures that would ban the burqa and niqab in schools and place a cap on the number of foreign pupils allowed in each class, according to the BBC.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni defended the plans, describing them as “common-sense tools that do not divide but really help to integrate”, the BBC reported.
The proposals combine a dress-code restriction on the full-face Islamic veils, the burqa and niqab, with a limit on how many foreign students can be placed together in a single classroom.
Meloni’s government has framed the measures as part of a wider approach to integration rather than division, according to her comments reported by the BBC.
Further details of how the measures would be implemented, and when they might take effect, were not provided in the reporting available.
Why it matters
Rules affecting religious dress and the makeup of classrooms touch on questions of integration, religious freedom and education policy that resonate across Europe. How Italy defines and enforces such measures could influence debate in other countries facing similar discussions.