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Italy is preparing legislation to ban face-covering garments such as the burqa and niqab in schools, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Sunday.
Speaking at a youth event organised by her Brothers of Italy party, Meloni said the measure would soon be presented to the Council of Ministers. She said students would be required to attend school with their faces uncovered.
The proposal is part of a broader package of measures on integration.
The government also plans to introduce a legal limit on the number of foreign students in each classroom and require parents of foreign students facing serious integration difficulties to learn Italian.
Meloni did not specify the proposed limit on foreign students.
According to Fondazione ISMU, students without Italian citizenship account for 11.6% of pupils enrolled in Italian schools.
However, the proposal specifically concerns full-face coverings such as the burqa and niqab, not the ordinary hijab, which leaves the face visible.
Recent reporting and statements by Italian officials have sometimes used the terms differently, so the distinction is important.
Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara had already said the government would introduce a decree-law to prohibit the niqab and burqa in schools, arguing that the measure was linked to equality between men and women.
The measures are expected to fuel further debate in Italy over immigration, integration, religious expression and individual freedoms.