'Go with your face uncovered': PM Meloni to ban burqas, niqabs in Italy schools

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has announced plans to ban burqas and niqabs in schools and cap the number of foreign students allowed in each classroom, as her government tightens integration rules ahead of next year’s general election.

Speaking at the annual youth festival of her Brothers of Italy party in Rome on September 20, Meloni said a draft measure will soon go before the Cabinet to “legally establish a maximum number of foreign students per class”, according to a Reuters report.

The proposal also requires parents of foreign students who face “serious difficulties integrating into the school system” to learn Italian and explicitly bans burqas and niqabs in schools.

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Meloni did not specify the exact cap, though reports note that Italian law already sets a 30 per cent guideline for foreign students in classes and schools.

'Italian children cannot feel like a minority'

Meloni framed the move as essential to protect integration and classroom unity. “If there is only one child in a class who doesn’t understand Italian, that child will likely be able to learn the language and integrate quickly with the help of classmates and teachers,” she said. “However, if the number of children who don’t understand the language becomes large – or even the majority – that is no longer integration; it is neglect.”

Students who are not Italian citizens account for 11.6 per cent of students enrolled in Italian schools, according to Fondazione ISMU, a research institution cited by Reuters. She added, “Italian children cannot feel like a minority in the classroom.”

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On face coverings, Meloni was unequivocal: “You must go to school with your face uncovered, and in Italy no one, in the name of a real or supposed tradition, can decide that a young woman must hide herself,” she told the gathering.

The announcement comes as immigration and integration are expected to be central issues in Italy’s 2027 general election, with Meloni facing pressure from harder-right rivals. If the proposals require parliamentary approval, lawmakers will determine final details such as the precise numerical ceiling, exemptions, and enforcement mechanisms for the veil ban.