What the decree changes in Italian classrooms
Italy's government has approved a prohibition on the Islamic burqa and niqab in schools, together with a restriction on the share of pupils per class who speak little Italian. The decree sets a maximum of 30% of pupils per classroom for students who do not speak Italian or do not master it adequately in the first year of primary, lower secondary and upper secondary school. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni described the measures as common-sense instruments that do not divide but genuinely help integration.[S1]
Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara said the limit is purely linguistic and not a question of citizenship, while seeking to present the ban on the niqab and burqa as a matter of gender equality. Announcing the plans on Sunday, Meloni said pupils must attend school with their faces uncovered, adding that nobody can decide that a young woman should hide herself in the name of tradition. Several drafts of the decree circulated before Thursday's Council of Ministers meeting, though the essential details were already clear.[S1]
The veil ban would not apply to the hijab, which leaves the face uncovered. The niqab covers the face and leaves the area around the eyes exposed, though it can be worn with a separate eye veil and is worn with a headscarf. The burqa is a one-piece veil covering face and body, often with a mesh around the eyes to see through.[S1]
How the 30% limit would work
Non-Italian citizens make up 11.6% of pupils in the country's schools, according to the research institution Fondazione ISMU (Foundation Initiative and Studies on Human Mobility). The 30% ceiling on pupils with limited Italian per class will apply differently at each stage of education. In primary schools it will cover non-Italians who were either not born in Italy or have not attended at least two years of early childhood education. In secondary schools it will cover pupils without Italian citizenship who have not successfully completed at least three years in the Italian school system.[S1]
Local school offices will be asked to distribute pupils with scant knowledge of Italian more evenly among nearby schools. Where that is not possible, exceptions will apply in the form of additional Italian lessons. The aim, the education minister explained, is to avoid marginal classes. According to the news agency Ansa, the decree also goes further with regard to parents: schools will have to inform social services about cases in which persistent language barriers between parents or legal guardians hinder a child's integration, and free Italian courses will be offered.[S1]
The measure is a decree-law, meaning it can take effect immediately but must be ratified by Parliament within 60 days. Italy already has guidelines on the Italian language in schools. A 2010 ministerial circular issued by then education minister Mariastella Gelmini set a 30% limit as a general rule for pupils without Italian citizenship. The new decree turns that limit into law.[S1]
Political tension over the plan
Opposition parties argue the plan has as much to do with politics as with education. Critics accuse Meloni of trying to court Roberto Vannacci, a retired military general who leads the far-right party Futuro Nazionale and is seen as a threat to the governing coalition's right flank. The leader of the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), Elly Schlein, called the plan propaganda and impossible to implement. PD lawmaker and chamber vice-president Anna Ascani also accused the government of campaigning at the expense of schoolchildren.[S1]
Valditara rejected the accusation at a press conference in New York, saying the government is not pursuing Vannacci and that, if anything, Vannacci is the one pursuing the government. Vannacci said he agrees with the measures but that they should have been introduced years ago. Matteo Salvini of the right-wing League party, who on Wednesday presented a separate package of measures on what he called political Islam, accused Vannacci of continuously voting against the government. Salvini said he hopes Futuro Nazionale will back his party's new proposals.[S1]
