Italian PM pushes foreign student cap in classrooms, burqa, niqab ban in schools

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced plans Sept. 20 to introduce legislation capping the number of foreign students in Italian classrooms and banning face-covering garments, including burqas and niqabs, in schools.

The conservative leader said her proposed measures aim to foster integration, preserve Italian cultural identity and ensure that native children do not feel sidelined in the classroom.

"There's no way that in an Italian classroom, the ones who feel marginalized are Italian children because they have become a minority," Meloni said during a speech to Gioventù Nazionale, the youth wing of her conservative Brothers of Italy party, in Rome, according to reports.

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Under the proposal, individual classrooms would have limits on non-Italian students to prevent heavy concentrations in specific districts.

Meloni did not specify the exact cap but said the government would also require mandatory Italian-language lessons for parents of foreign pupils who struggle to integrate.

"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," Meloni said, The Associated Press reported.

"It is the only serious way to welcome them."

Students who don't hold Italian citizenship account for around 11.6% of school enrollment nationwide, according to Italy's Education Ministry cited by the ISMU ETS Foundation.

Under Italian law, children born to foreign parents also do not automatically gain citizenship at birth and must wait until age 18 before they can apply.

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Meloni argued that high concentrations of non-native speakers impact the learning process for everyone involved.

"If in a classroom there is only one child who doesn't understand Italian, it is possible that that child will manage, with the help of his peers and teachers, to learn the language and integrate fast," she said.

"But if these children are many, or even the majority, that's not integration anymore, that's abandonment."

The proposed package also targets religious face coverings, explicitly prohibiting burqas and niqabs in educational institutions while permitting other forms of Islamic dress, such as the hijab.

In a series of posts on X on Monday, the Brothers of Italy party reinforced the prime minister's message:

"Those who choose to build their future in Italy must learn our language, know our culture, and respect our rules.

"School is attended with one's face uncovered. No tradition can impose on a young woman the obligation to hide herself."

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A subsequent post added: "Limit on the number of foreign students in classrooms, obligation for parents of pupils with serious integration difficulties to learn Italian, and ban on burqas and niqabs in educational institutions.

"Integration comes through knowledge of our language, respect for our rules, and protection of our cultural identity."

Several European neighbors, including France and Belgium, have previously imposed bans on face-coverings in public places, though enforcement and legal frameworks differ.

The proposed Italian legislation is expected to be considered by Italy's Council of Ministers before being sent to Parliament for consideration.

Meloni, who has led Brothers of Italy since 2014 and served as president of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party from 2020 to 2025, has governed Italy since 2022.

Her administration recently surpassed previous records set by Silvio Berlusconi to become the longest-serving uninterrupted government in modern Italian history.