Italy bans face coverings in schools by decree

On 24 September 2026, four days after Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced the plan at a rally, Italy's Council of Ministers approved a decree-law banning face coverings in schools and capping first-year classes at 30% of pupils with weak Italian. Some outlets date the approval to 25 September. The decree takes effect immediately, but lapses unless Parliament converts it into law within 60 days. It follows Denmark's push into classrooms and lecture halls and Quebec's Bill 94.

What the decree does

The face-covering ban. Face coverings are banned in curricular, extracurricular and school-family activities, with exceptions for proven health or security reasons. Reports say it applies to pupils, staff and parents. According to Wanted in Rome, the text refers to face coverings in general rather than naming the burqa, though media coverage describes it as a burqa and niqab ban.

The fines. €200 to €1,000. When the person breaking the rule is a minor, the parents pay.

The 30% cap. It applies to first-year classes in primary, middle and secondary schools, and is based on Italian-language proficiency rather than nationality. It covers new enrolments from the 2027/28 school year; existing classes are untouched. Pupils with long prior time in the Italian school system are reportedly exempt. Education Minister Valditara said it would affect around 1,000 classrooms, about 0.3% nationally.

Parents. Schools must report persistent family language barriers to social services, and parents who skip compulsory Italian courses face the same €200 to €1,000 fine.

Before the decree: the announcement

Meloni set out the plan on 20 September 2026 at a rally of Gioventù Nazionale, the youth wing of her Brothers of Italy party. Italy had no nationwide ban on face coverings. A 1975 law bars garments that obscure identity without justified reason, and a 2008 ruling let full-face coverings stand for religious or cultural reasons as long as the wearer's face could be shown on request. A 2010 ministerial circular already limited non-Italian pupils to 30% per class, a rule reportedly often unenforced. Euronews reported that a statutory cap would make Italy the first European country to adopt such a rule.

At the rally, Meloni said: "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 also said: "It is unacceptable that in an Italian classroom the children who end up feeling pushed into a corner are Italian children."

Reactions

Meloni described the measures as "tools of common sense that don't divide, but help integrate properly, avoiding ghetto classrooms," as reported by Wanted in Rome. Opposition leader Elly Schlein called it "a shameful decree" and "a witch-hunt at the expense of children."

Salvatore Curreri, a professor of constitutional law, cautioned that if the cap on foreign pupils were so restrictive as to uproot minors and their families to other areas, far from where they live, it "could prove excessive precisely because it conflicts with the overriding functional aim of integration," risking a right recognised by the constitution. As reported, his concern is with the pupil cap rather than the veil ban itself.

In late July, Futuro Nazionale (National Future), the party founded by far-right MEP Roberto Vannacci, tabled a resolution against the full-face veil in the Chamber of Deputies' Culture Committee; Vannacci has backed Meloni's proposal. Al Jazeera notes that Meloni faces electoral pressure from that party.

Sources. Al Jazeera · Euronews · Wanted in Rome · The Express Tribune

As of 29 September 2026 the decree is in force but has not yet been converted into law. Check current status before citing it.