Afət Ziyadqızı
The conservative government led by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is preparing to submit a new bill to the Cabinet of Ministers that would tighten integration policies in the country’s education system. The initiative would introduce a legal limit on the number of foreign pupils with limited Italian-language skills in classrooms and ban burqas and niqabs in schools.
The Operative Information Center-OMM reports that the Italian government’s press service and local media provided the information, citing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s speech at a youth festival organized by her Brothers of Italy party.
According to the reports, the changes proposed by Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara aim to give legal force to the “maximum 30% foreign pupils per class” rule, which has been in effect since 2010 but has so far largely served as a recommendation. The new rules would apply to children from non-EU countries who have limited knowledge of Italian. Compulsory Italian-language courses would also be organized for the parents of foreign children facing integration difficulties. Meloni said in her speech that having a majority of pupils in a class who do not speak Italian was not integration but neglect, and that everyone must respect the country’s rules.
Official statistics show that nearly 930,000 foreign pupils currently attend schools in Italy, accounting for 11.6% of all students. Education trade unions and lawyers say the restrictions could create practical and constitutional problems, particularly in northern regions with large migrant populations, noting that schools do not have the authority to refuse admission to pupils.
