Italy's Meloni plans to limit foreign student numbers, ban face coverings in schools
Meloni said the government would bring the proposed legislation to the Council of Ministers, after which it would require parliamentary approval to become law.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced plans on Sunday to impose a cap on the number of foreign students in Italian classrooms, alongside a ban on face-covering garments such as the Islamic burqa and niqab in schools. Speaking at the Fenix event organized by the youth wing of her conservative Brothers of Italy party, Meloni stated that if only one child in a classroom struggles with Italian, integration is likely to succeed.
However, if foreign students become the majority, she argued that it would be abandonment rather than integration. Meloni proposed that foreign students in individual classrooms should not exceed 30% of the total, emphasizing that Italian children should not become a minority in their own classrooms. Currently, non-Italian citizens make up about 11.6% of total school enrollment in Italy, according to ISMU ETS Foundation data from the Italian Ministry of Education.
Meloni also announced plans to prohibit face-covering garments in schools, specifying that the measure would target garments that cover the face, excluding other forms of Islamic headwear. The proposed legislation would undergo parliamentary approval before becoming law. This move would be a first in Europe if adopted. Italy's school system emphasizes inclusion, offering education to all children regardless of their legal status or religion.
However, some experts question the practicality of implementing these measures, expressing concerns about how they would be enforced.
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