ROME â Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said her government is preparing new school rules that would set a legal limit on the number of foreign students in individual classrooms, require some parents of foreign pupils to learn Italian and restrict the use of the burqa and hijab in schools.
Meloni announced the measures on Sunday, September 20, while speaking at Fenix, an event organised by GioventĂš Nazionale, the youth wing of her Brothers of Italy party.
According to ANSA, Meloni said a measure is about to reach Italyâs Council of Ministers and would introduce âa maximum number of foreign students per class.â
đ¨đŽđš Meloni announces a BURQA BAN in schools, plus a LIMIT on the number of foreign students per class!!
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) September 20, 2026
"The proposed measure will introduce an obligation for the parents of foreign students with serious school-integration problems to learn Italian, and it will introduce a BANâŚ
She also said the measure would require parents of foreign students with serious difficulties integrating into school to learn Italian, while introducing a ban on the burqa and hijab in schools.
The precise scope of the clothing restriction is expected to become clearer when the government publishes the full text of the measure. Previous proposals from the Education Ministry had focused heavily on full-face coverings, including the burqa and niqab.
Meloni says Italian pupils should not become a minority
Meloni linked the proposed classroom cap to what her government describes as the need for better integration and a more balanced distribution of pupils.
âItalian children cannot feel pushed into a corner because they have become the minority,â Meloni said during her speech, according to ANSA. âIt cannot happen.â
The proposal follows comments made earlier this month by Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara, who said an existing administrative rule already provides for a 30% limit on foreign pupils in individual classrooms, but argued that it had largely gone unenforced.
In a September 11 interview reported by ANSA, Valditara said the government wanted to put clearer rules into law and give regional education authorities greater powers to coordinate the distribution of students between schools.
âWe are against ghetto schools,â Valditara said. He argued that when a very high proportion of pupils in the same classroom cannot speak Italian, educational difficulties can affect the whole class.
Meloni did not specify on Sunday whether the governmentâs final legislation will adopt the previously discussed 30% threshold.
Italian lessons for some parents also included
The second major part of the proposal concerns parents of foreign students who are struggling academically or facing serious difficulties integrating into school.
Valditara first outlined the idea in August, saying he would propose making Italian-language study compulsory for parents whose children were not performing well at school.
âWe can’t lose at home what we learn at school,â Valditara said, adding that parents knowing Italian and being able to interact with teachers was âfundamental.â His comments were reported by ANSA English.
The Education Ministry has also pointed to other integration measures. Valditara previously said Italy planned to recruit 1,000 teachers for newly arrived foreign students and provide âŹ13 million to strengthen Italian-language teaching.
The proposals have also faced criticism. The FLC CGIL education union criticised the plan for compulsory language lessons for parents, arguing that integration problems require broader educational support rather than measures linked to a childâs academic performance.
For now, the measures announced by Meloni should be treated as proposed government policy rather than a nationwide ban already in force. The Council of Ministers is expected to consider the package, while the final legislation will determine the classroom limit, who falls under the parental language requirement and exactly which forms of religious clothing are covered.
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