Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced plans on Sept. 20 to introduce legislation that would limit the number of foreign students in Italian classrooms and ban face-covering garments, including burqas and niqabs, in schools.
Meloni said the proposed measures are aimed at promoting integration, preserving Italian cultural identity and ensuring Italian 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 Brothers of Italy party, in Rome.
Under the proposal, individual classrooms would have limits on non-Italian students to prevent heavy concentrations in particular districts.
Meloni did not specify the exact cap. She said the government would also require mandatory Italian-language lessons for parents of foreign pupils who face difficulties integrating.
“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.
“It is the only serious way to welcome them.”
Language and integration at the centre of proposal
Students without Italian citizenship account for around 11.6% of school enrolment nationwide, according to figures from Italy’s Education Ministry cited by the ISMU ETS Foundation.
Under Italian law, children born to foreign parents do not automatically acquire citizenship at birth and must wait until they turn 18 before they can apply.
Meloni said high concentrations of students who do not speak Italian affect the learning process for everyone in the classroom.
“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.”
Burqas and niqabs targeted under proposed rules
The proposed package would also address religious face coverings by explicitly prohibiting burqas and niqabs in educational institutions, while allowing other forms of Islamic dress, including the hijab.
In a series of posts on X, the Brothers of Italy party reinforced Meloni’s position.
“Those who choose to build their future in Italy must learn our language, know our culture, and respect our rules.”
The party also said schools should be attended with faces uncovered, adding that no tradition should require a young woman to hide herself.
A subsequent post outlined the proposed measures as limits on the number of foreign students in classrooms, an obligation for parents of pupils facing serious integration difficulties to learn Italian, and a ban on burqas and niqabs in educational institutions.
The party said integration comes through knowledge of the Italian language, respect for the country’s rules and protection of its cultural identity.
Several European neighbours, including France and Belgium, have previously imposed bans on face coverings in public places, although their 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 has led Brothers of Italy since 2014 and served as president of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party from 2020 to 2025. She 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.
