Italian education ministry bans gender-neutral symbols in schools

Italy Reclaims Tradition with Ban on Gender-Neutral Symbols

Italy’s Ministry of Education banned gender-neutral symbols like the asterisk and schwa in schools on March 21, 2025. The ministry calls them ungrammatical and unclear, reversing a brief trend pushed by progressive activists. Under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who took office in 2022, Italy shifts back to traditional norms after years of pressure from vocal […]

Italian education ministry bans gender-neutral symbols in schools

Italy’s Ministry of Education and Merit is ordering schools to stop using gender-neutral symbols, citing their lack of coherence in the Italian language. The ministry issued a memorandum Friday outlining its opposition to symbols used to degender Italian words, urging…

Italian education ministry bans gender-neutral symbols

Italy’s Ministry of Education and Merit is ordering schools to stop using gender-neutral symbols, citing their lack of coherence in the Italian language. The ministry issued a memorandum Friday outlining its opposition to symbols used to degender Italian words, urging institutions to “maintain the use of correct and accessible language” in official communications. “The Ministry of Education and Merit has sent a circular to all schools to reitera…

Eliminate the schwa to avoid a babel

This is why the world of culture, especially the university one, and the Accademia della Crusca itself are rebelling against the use of schwa. The speech by Francesco Provinciali, former MIUR and Ministry of Education inspection manager We need communication codes that allow us to relate in a mutually understandable way, in the wake of a long-standing continuity where the alphabets which are nothing more than signs and symbols of handed down cul…

The Italian government on Friday banned the use of gender-neutral symbols in education. This includes the asterisk sign (*) and the so-called schwa (ə), which are used by some teachers and schools to make language more inclusive. According to the Department of Education, these signs undermine the grammatical rules and cause confusion.

Some see this as an expression of male domination and support the introduction of gender neutral noun endings