Excerpt:
BERLIN: A conservative German state governor is considering a ban on students wearing the all-encompassing Muslim burqa in schools, according to an interview published on Sunday ahead of regional elections next month.
The state of Hesse -- which includes Germany's financial center, Frankfurt -- already has the country's widest-reaching legislation preventing public school teachers and civil servants from wearing head scarves at work.
Governor Roland Koch, a prominent member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats, was quoted as telling the weekly Focus that his government "specifically encourages the integration of the Muslim population in our society."