Italy’s government has moved ahead with plans to ban face coverings in schools and limit the number of non-Italian-speaking students in classrooms, with violations punishable by fines of up to $1,140 (1,000 euros).
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced the proposed measures on Sunday at a gathering of the youth wing of her nationalist conservative Brothers of Italy (FdI) party, reports Al Jazeera.
Her cabinet adopted the decree-law on Thursday, making the wearing of burqas and niqabs in schools illegal and introducing a 30 per cent cap on non-Italian speakers in classrooms from next year.
The measures take immediate effect under the decree-law system but must be ratified by parliament within 60 days. President Sergio Mattarella must also sign the measure. He indicated this week that he was concerned about creating barriers to education.
Defending the policy in a post on X, Meloni said the “tools” to learn Italian and “stop” burqas and niqabs in schools were “common sense that do not divide”.
“This is the direction we want to continue to follow: a school that integrates without giving up on rules, that supports those who have more difficulties and that puts everyone in a position to start from the same point,” she wrote.
Opponents, however, accused the government of introducing the measures to counter the growing appeal of the far-right National Future (FN) party, led by former army general Roberto Vannacci, ahead of next year’s elections.
The FN has made schools a key focus of its campaign for “remigration” and had called for a crackdown on burqas in schools in July.
Opposition politicians also accused Meloni of putting culture-war politics ahead of the needs of students and schools.
Elly Schlein, leader of the centre-left Democratic Party, described the measure as a “shameful decree” and said it sought to conceal the government’s failure to address the “real problems of the public school system” behind a new ideological banner.
Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara said local school authorities would co-ordinate student placements to prevent concentrations of non-Italian-speaking pupils.
He said schools unable to meet the 30 per cent limit would be eligible for exemptions and additional funding for language support. Valditara said the measure would affect about 1,000 classrooms, or roughly 0.3 per cent of all classrooms nationwide.
The plan has nevertheless faced opposition from key education bodies. Teachers’ unions criticised the lack of consultation and resources, while school principals questioned how the restriction could be implemented in areas with large migrant populations.
Antonello Giannelli, president of the National Association of Principals, said: “From an educational perspective, the issue is well-founded and valid, but it’s difficult to turn it into a practical solution”.
Education Ministry data showed that non-citizen students made up 11.2 per cent of Italy’s school population in the 2022–23 academic year. Classes with more than 30 per cent foreign students accounted for 7.6 per cent of the national total.
