Meloni unveils Italy school plan to ban burqas, niqabs, limit foreign pupils

ROME: Italy will ban burqas and niqabs in schools and limit the number of foreign students per class, far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Sunday.

Italy is a frontline country for migration, and integration is a major campaign issue ahead of a general election next year.

"A measure will soon be presented to a cabinet meeting to legally establish a maximum number of foreign students per class," Meloni told a gathering of the youth wing of her Brothers of Italy (FdI) party.

"It also requires parents of foreign students facing serious difficulties integrating into the school system to learn Italian, and bans burqas and niqabs in schools," she said.

A crackdown on the use of burqas in schools was called for in July by the National Future (FN) party.

The FN, which is not part of the governing coalition, is further to the right than Meloni's and has emerged as a major challenger, rising sharply in the polls since launching in February.

While there is no law in Italy that expressly bans burqas, either in schools or in public places, a 1975 law prohibits the use of helmets or garments that make identification difficult without a justified reason.

In 2008, Italy's highest administrative court clarified that full-face veils may be worn for religious or cultural reasons provided that the face is revealed when identity verification is required.

The anti-immigrant League party, which is part of Meloni's coalition, submitted a bill to the Senate earlier this year that would ban helmets or garments except for in certain circumstances, such as sporting events or places of worship.

The limit on the number of foreign students per class already exists under Italian law, and Meloni did not spell out how that would change.

Foreign students account for just under 12 per cent of those enrolled in Italian schools, according to the National Statistics Institute (ISTAT).

Since 2010 the number of foreign students has been limited to 30 per cent of a class and of a school's enrolment.

The limit can be raised in cases involving foreign students with adequate language skills, such as foreign students born in Italy, or lowered when foreign students have a poor command of Italian.--AFP