Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni proposed prohibiting burqas and niqabs in schools, limiting the share of foreign students in classrooms and requiring some immigrant parents to take Italian-language courses.

By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has proposed new school policies aimed at integration, including a ban on burqas and niqabs, limits on the number of foreign students in individual classrooms and mandatory Italian-language instruction for some immigrant parents.

Meloni announced the proposals while addressing the youth wing of her Brothers of Italy party, outlining measures she said would require families settling in the country to learn the language and adapt to Italian cultural and legal norms.

“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,” Meloni said, according to reporting on the proposals.

“It is the only serious way to welcome them.”

Meloni received a standing ovation from the audience after presenting the proposals.

Her plan would specifically prohibit the burqa, which covers the body and face, and the niqab, which covers the face while leaving the eyes visible, from being worn in schools. The proposal was also highlighted in coverage of her remarks.

Alongside the clothing restrictions, Meloni said her government would seek to cap the number of foreign students placed in individual classrooms. She also proposed compulsory Italian-language lessons for parents of foreign students who have “serious difficulties integrating into the school system.”

The measures would extend Meloni’s broader immigration and integration agenda from border policy into the country’s schools.

Her government has pursued agreements with North African countries intended to reduce illegal migration into Italy. Meloni has also promoted arrangements under which asylum seekers attempting to enter Italy could have their claims processed in third countries rather than on Italian territory.

At the same time, her government has authorized substantial quotas for legal foreign workers needed in sectors including agriculture.

That approach has generated criticism from some of Meloni’s supporters, who argue that allowing large numbers of legal migrant workers conflicts with the restrictive immigration platform on which she built much of her political support.

Meloni’s government has now become the longest continuously serving Italian government since World War II, giving her greater political longevity than many recent Italian administrations.

Her latest proposals emphasize a distinction between limiting illegal migration and establishing integration requirements for foreign nationals who legally settle in Italy.

The school measures would place language acquisition at the center of that approach. Meloni’s proposal would require certain parents struggling with integration to study Italian, while classroom limits would seek to control the concentration of foreign students within individual schools.

The proposed restrictions on burqas and niqabs would add a cultural component to the policy, targeting two forms of Islamic dress that cover most or all of a woman’s face and body.

Meloni framed the collection of measures as part of an integration policy rather than a rejection of immigration itself, arguing that people who choose to establish their lives in Italy should learn the country’s language and follow its laws and customs.

Her government has simultaneously maintained legal labor-migration channels while attempting to reduce unauthorized arrivals, an approach that has produced criticism from both opponents of her immigration policies and some supporters who want stricter limits on migration overall.

The proposals outlined to the Brothers of Italy youth organization would further extend that agenda into education by tying school policy, language instruction and integration requirements more closely together.

Original article