Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni recently unveiled her administration's intention to introduce new legislation addressing student demographics and dress codes in the nation's schools. The proposals, announced on September 20, include establishing limits on the number of non-Italian students in classrooms and prohibiting face-covering garments, specifically burqas and niqabs, within educational establishments. The conservative leader stated these measures are designed to promote integration, safeguard Italy's distinct cultural identity, and ensure that native Italian children do not experience marginalization in their learning environments.
Classroom Integration and Student Limits
Meloni emphasized her commitment to preventing Italian children from feeling like a minority in their own classrooms. “There’s no way that in an Italian classroom, the ones who feel marginalized are Italian children because they have become a minority,” she reportedly stated during a speech to Gioventù Nazionale, the youth division of her conservative Brothers of Italy party, in Rome.
The proposed framework would impose specific limits on non-Italian students within individual classrooms, aiming to prevent high concentrations of foreign pupils in particular areas. While the precise cap was not detailed, the Prime Minister indicated that the government would also mandate Italian-language instruction for parents of foreign students who encounter 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. It is the only serious way to welcome them.
Data from Italy’s Education Ministry, cited by the ISMU ETS Foundation, indicates that students who do not hold Italian citizenship comprise approximately 11.6% of school enrollments across the country. Under existing Italian law, children born to foreign parents do not automatically acquire citizenship at birth; they must wait until they are 18 years old before they can apply.
Meloni contended that a high concentration of non-native speakers adversely affects the learning process for all students. She elaborated on this point, explaining, “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.” However, she cautioned, “But if these children are many, or even the majority, that’s not integration anymore, that’s abandonment.”
Prohibiting Face Coverings in Schools
The legislative package also targets religious face coverings, explicitly banning burqas and niqabs in educational settings. Other forms of Islamic dress, such as the hijab, would remain permissible under the proposal.
Through a series of posts published on X on Monday, the Brothers of Italy party reiterated the Prime Minister’s stance:
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.
A subsequent post from the party further elaborated on the measures:
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.
Italy is not alone in considering such restrictions; several other European nations, including France and Belgium, have previously implemented prohibitions on face coverings in public spaces, although the specific enforcement and legal frameworks vary between countries.
Legislative Process and Meloni's Administration
The proposed Italian legislation is slated for review by Italy’s Council of Ministers before it proceeds to Parliament for further consideration and potential approval.
Meloni has led the Brothers of Italy party since 2014 and served as president of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party from 2020 to 2025. She assumed the role of Prime Minister of Italy in 2022. Her current administration recently achieved a historic milestone, surpassing the previous record held by Silvio Berlusconi, to become the longest-serving uninterrupted government in modern Italian history.