Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Sunday that her government will move to ban burqas and niqabs in schools and cap the number of foreign students allowed per classroom. She made the announcement at a youth event organized by her Brothers of Italy party, calling the measures necessary for integration, according to reporting cited by VnExpress International and The Epoch Times. The plan also includes mandatory Italian language classes for parents of foreign pupils. No bill has been published yet, and Meloni did not specify enforcement mechanisms or penalties for schools that fail to comply.
What Meloni proposed at the youth event and the legislative path ahead
Meloni tied the school measures to a broader message about national identity, telling the gathering that Italy needed firmer rules on integration in classrooms. The proposal has three parts: a ban on face coverings including burqas and niqabs in schools, a cap on the proportion of foreign students in individual classes, and compulsory Italian lessons for parents of children who are not native speakers. Coverage from the Times of India and other outlets described the plan as an attempt by Meloni to reinforce her right-wing credentials ahead of future electoral tests.
60-day parliamentary approval process required to become law
The proposed measures are not yet law. According to reporting on Meloni’s remarks, any such ban would first need approval from the government and then clear parliament within 60 days to take effect. That timeline puts the plan on a standard legislative track rather than an emergency decree, so lawmakers will debate specifics, including scope and penalties, before anything becomes binding. As of the announcement, no draft text had been submitted to parliament.
Mandatory Italian language classes for parents of foreign pupils
Alongside the face-covering ban, Meloni vowed to make Italian language tuition mandatory for parents of foreign pupils. At the event, she argued that parents’ Italian proficiency affects how well their children integrate at school. No further detail has emerged on how the classes would be funded, who would teach them, or what consequences parents would face for non-compliance.
Reaction: backlash over the foreign-student cap
The proposal to limit foreign students per classroom drew immediate criticism. Reuters reporting, cited widely in follow-up coverage, said the plan “comes under fire” from critics who argue that capping foreign pupils by classroom risks segregating students by nationality or immigration background rather than addressing integration directly. The Local’s Italy news service also published a roundup referencing experts’ views on the broader package, though specific rebuttals to the classroom cap were not detailed in available reporting.
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson voices support from abroad
Support came from outside Italy’s borders. Lee Anderson, Chief Whip of the United Kingdom’s Reform UK party, backed Meloni’s plan with a three-word statement, according to coverage of his remarks. His endorsement suggests Meloni’s proposal is finding an audience among right-wing and populist figures elsewhere in Europe who have pushed similar restrictions on religious face coverings in their own countries.
How the proposed ban fits Meloni’s political positioning
Meloni has built her political brand on hardline immigration and identity policies since taking office, and the school ban fits that pattern. By pairing a face-covering ban with a foreign-student cap and mandatory language classes, she is addressing three flashpoints in Italy’s immigration debate at once: religious symbols in public institutions, classroom demographics, and cultural assimilation. The timing and venue of the announcement reinforce that positioning.
Timing at a right-wing party youth event
Meloni unveiled the plan at a Brothers of Italy youth event rather than in a parliamentary session or formal press conference. Choosing a party youth gathering as the venue suggests the announcement was aimed as much at energizing her base and cultivating support among younger right-wing voters as at signaling imminent legislative action. VnExpress International described the moment as Meloni “playing up her right-wing credentials.”
Face-covering bans elsewhere in Europe: a country-by-country comparison
Italy would not be the first European country to restrict face coverings in public institutions. Several nations have already passed national or local laws addressing burqas, niqabs, or face coverings generally, though the scope and targets of these laws vary considerably.
France’s 2010 nationwide public face-covering ban
France enacted a nationwide ban on covering one’s face in public in 2010, one of the earliest and broadest such laws in Europe. The French law applies beyond schools to public spaces generally, making it more expansive in reach than what Meloni has proposed, which so far is limited to the school setting.
Belgium, Austria, Denmark and Netherlands restrictions
Belgium, Austria, Denmark, and the Netherlands have each introduced their own restrictions on face coverings in public or in specific institutional settings. These laws differ in scope: some apply broadly to public spaces, while others target specific contexts such as schools, courts, or government buildings. The result is a patchwork of approaches rather than a unified European standard.
Countries with no national ban, local or school-level rules only
Not every European country has moved toward a national ban. In several nations, restrictions on face coverings exist only at the local or school level, with no overarching national legislation. That means Italy’s proposed measure, if it becomes law, would add to a mixed European picture rather than fit a single continental model.
What’s still unclear about Italy’s plan
Several important details remain absent from Meloni’s announcement. There is no confirmed bill text, no specified enforcement mechanism, and no outlined penalty structure for schools or families that do not comply with a face-covering ban or the language-class requirement.
No confirmed bill text, enforcement details or penalties yet
Reporting following the announcement, including from the Times of India, consistently notes that specifics remain undefined. It is unclear whether the foreign-student cap would apply per classroom, per school, or per region, and whether exemptions might exist for religious or medical reasons regarding face coverings. Until the government submits a formal bill, these questions remain open, and the 60-day parliamentary clock has not yet started.
Why this proposal is emerging now in Italy’s political climate
Meloni’s announcement lands amid a broader European moment of political turbulence, including a disastrous state election result for German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s CDU party and heightened tension over migration debates across the continent. A school-focused ban lets Meloni draw a sharp contrast with rivals on immigration policy while courting international allies like Reform UK’s Lee Anderson, who publicly welcomed the move. Whether the plan survives parliamentary scrutiny within the required 60-day window, or gets diluted through amendments addressing the backlash over the foreign-student cap, will determine if Italy actually joins France, Belgium, Austria, Denmark, and the Netherlands on the list of European countries with binding restrictions on face coverings in schools.
