The Italian government is preparing to introduce new measures concerning schools, including a ban on wearing the burqa and niqab and a cap on the number of foreign students in each classroom, as part of a proposal that Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said would soon be presented to the cabinet. The plan has prompted political and social debate over integration, religious identity and the right to education.
Meloni announced on Sunday that the proposal would also require the parents of foreign students who, in her words, face “significant difficulties with integration” to learn Italian. The prime minister linked integration into the education system to learning the language, understanding the culture and respecting the rules in force in Italy.
Speaking at a gathering in Rome for the youth wing of the Brothers of Italy party, Meloni said it was “unacceptable” for Italian children to feel like a minority in their classrooms. She added that describing the current situation as integration was, in her words, “a comforting lie” for those who ignored the problem.
Proposed package brings together three school measures
The proposed package is based on three main measures: first, imposing a cap on the number of foreign students in each classroom; second, requiring the parents of some students facing significant difficulties with integration to learn Italian; and third, banning certain face coverings in schools. The government has not announced a specific figure for the proposed cap on foreign students.
Data from the Ismu research institute indicate that students without Italian citizenship account for 11.6% of total enrolment in the country's schools, equivalent to about 12 students out of every 100. This proportion is at the heart of the debate over schools' ability to address differing levels of language proficiency and the requirements of integration in classrooms.
Accounts still differ over the scope of the proposed clothing restrictions. Meloni was reported to have announced a ban on the burqa and niqab in schools, while the Italian news agency ANSA published a transcript of her remarks referring to a ban on the burqa and hijab. The discrepancy highlights differences in reporting the details of the measure while the package remains a proposal that has not entered into force.
Migration and elections influence the timing of the plan
The announcement comes as migration, integration and identity issues occupy a significant place in Italy's political debate, amid competition among right-wing movements, particularly with the rise of forces and figures calling for tougher migration policies.
The measures are also being proposed ahead of general elections scheduled for next year, bringing the timing of the announcement into the political debate surrounding the plan. The government presents the proposals as a response to problems related to education and integration, while opponents say bringing these issues together in a single package reflects the political use of migration and identity issues.
Social media platforms divided over the measures' priority
The debate also spread to social media, where views were divided between supporters who regarded the measures as a defence of Italian school rules and a means of promoting integration, and critics who questioned how widespread the burqa and niqab actually are in schools and the rationale for directly linking face coverings to the issue of foreign students.
Italian activists questioned whether there were any female students wearing the burqa or niqab in schools in the first place. Some said the issue was limited compared with the challenges facing the education sector, including teacher shortages, low wages and deteriorating school infrastructure. One commentator wrote that schools were “falling apart” and that teachers were suffering from low pay and staff shortages, asking why the government was focusing on the burqa as a school problem.
Other commentators said the public debate should focus on education reform rather than students' identity or clothing. Another strand of the comments addressed the hijab, with activists asking about the difference between imposing restrictions on Islamic head coverings and allowing other religious clothing.
Some invoked the clothing worn by nuns in Italian churches in this context, objecting to what they viewed as unequal treatment of religious symbols. Other activists, meanwhile, backed the government's proposals, saying schools should apply uniform rules on showing the face. They also considered learning Italian and respecting the country's laws and culture to be basic requirements for anyone living there.
Dispute extends to religious symbols and integration
One supporter wrote that “there is no place for the burqa in public spaces, starting with schools”, adding that respecting Italian rules should be part of the integration process. The dispute shifted to the relationship between migration and integration, with critics saying that combining a niqab ban with a cap on foreign students brought education, migration and religious identity issues into a single political debate.
One commentator said integration was “a legitimate goal”, but questioned whether the proposed restrictions would advance that goal or make Islamic identity part of the political debate over migration. Supporters, on the other hand, said limiting the number of foreign students in classrooms could help school administrations address language and integration challenges.
They argued that a high number of students who do not speak Italian in one classroom could make it more difficult to integrate and support them educationally. The debate was not confined to social media: opposition figures criticised the package, while legal experts raised questions about the impact of capping foreign students on the right to education, particularly if implementation led to students being transferred to schools far from where they live.
The plan brings religious symbols back to the forefront of Italy's integration debate, alongside continuing disputes over citizenship, migration and cultural identity.
The country is among the European states most exposed to the arrival of migrants because of its location in the central Mediterranean, making migration a continuing challenge for successive Italian governments and a sensitive issue in domestic politics.
