Italian PM Meloni Announces Plans for School Burqa Ban and Foreign Student Caps

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Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced plans to introduce a government measure capping the number of foreign students in classrooms and banning burqas and niqabs in schools.

Addressing the youth wing of her nationalist conservative Brothers of Italy party on Sunday, Meloni explained that the initiative would also make Italian language tuition mandatory for parents of foreign pupils who face "serious difficulties integrating into the school system."

"For us, anyone who comes to Italy and wants to build their future here must learn our language, understand our culture, and respect our rules," she told attendees to a standing ovation at the Gioventù Nazionale national festival in Rome.

She added: "It is the only serious way to welcome them."

Meloni specifically referred to a ban on the burqa, an all-covering dress worn by some Muslim women, and the niqab, the veil worn by the most conservative Muslim women, in which, at most, only the eyes show. But Meloni didn't mention the hijab, the headscarf worn by some Muslim women.

Once approved by the government, the measure would need parliamentary approval within 60 days to pass into law.

Meloni, who has political roots in the far-right, has consistently been hawkish on migration. But she has evolved politically over her tenure as prime minister, shifting from a nationalist outlier to an establishment figure among European Union politicians.

However, she's also keen to boost her popularity before a general election next year and is introducing a string of policies that achieve that aim, including an exemption from a hated property tax on small- and medium-sized cars and scooters.

Earlier this month, Meloni’s conservative administration became Italy’s longest-serving uninterrupted government since World War II.

Rome’s first female prime minister is famed for her sharp wit and political skill but has been dragged down by links to far-right and fascist movements.

The 49-year-old, who has moderated her populist instincts after her election victory in October 2022, faces an uphill task to maintain a steady coalition at the 2027 parliamentary elections, with opinion polls suggesting fragmentation in Italy’s political landscape.

Whether the elections could spell the end of Meloni’s ruling right-wing coalition, comprising Meloni's Brothers of Italy, the League and Forza Italia, remains unclear.