Norway seeks ban on burqas in the classroom

Norway’s right-wing government on Wednesday announced plans to ban the full-face Islamic veil from classrooms and university lecture halls.

Norway’s right-wing government on Wednesday announced plans to ban the full-face Islamic veil from classrooms and university lecture halls.

Education minister Torbjorn Roe Isaksen, quoted in the Vart Land newspaper, said the government was seeking “national regulations prohibiting the full-face veil in schools and universities.”

Several political parties including the opposition Labour Party had expressed support for such a ban.

Muslim women are rarely seen wearing such veils in Norway, let alone in schools. But the issue has come up recently in political debates, with less than a year to go before parliamentary elections.