Italy Approves School Decree Banning Full Facial Coverings and Capping Foreign Students
The Italian government approved a decree banning full facial coverings in schools and capping foreign students at 30% per classroom to foster genuine integration.
The Italian government officially approved the school decree today (Friday), a sweeping legislative package that introduces significant restrictions within the country's education system. Under the new decree, Muslim female students will be banned from wearing the burqa or niqab within educational institutions.
Restrictions on Foreign Students
Simultaneously, a clear quota was established stipulating that the proportion of students who do not hold Italian citizenship or are non-Italian speakers must not exceed 30% in any given classroom. At this stage, this applies to the first academic year of each educational tier: first grade in elementary schools, the first year of middle school (seventh grade), and the first year of high schools (tenth grade).
The ban on full facial coverings directly targets items of clothing that completely obscure the face, echoing measures already implemented in other European nations such as France and Belgium, though it does not apply to all traditional Muslim head coverings such as the hijab. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni clarified the rationale behind the decision:
At school, we go with uncovered faces, and in Italy no one, in the name of a true or purported tradition, can dictate that a young girl must hide. Gender equality is not open to negotiation.
The 30% Quota and Integration Challenges
The more unprecedented clause in the decree, generating resonance across the continent and representing a first of its kind in Europe, is the restriction capping the proportion of foreign students in classrooms at 30%. Meloni explained that the initiative stems from a desire to ensure genuine integration and enable proper instruction.
According to data from the ISMU research institute based on the Italian Ministry of Education, students without Italian citizenship currently account for about 11.6% of all students within the country's education system. However, in certain population concentrations and neighborhoods with high migration rates, classrooms have formed where the proportion of children from foreign backgrounds reaches half or even more.
Italian citizenship law does not automatically grant citizenship to those born in the country to foreign parents, but only upon reaching the age of 18 and subject to conditions. Consequently, the definition of a non-Italian student also encompasses children who were born and raised in Italy yet have foreign parents.
