Italy Plans School Veil Ban and Cap on Foreign Students

Italy is preparing measures that would ban face coverings such as burqas and niqabs in schools and introduce a limit on the number of foreign students in each class, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on September 20. She said the proposals would be presented to the Cabinet.

Meloni also said parents of foreign students facing serious difficulties integrating into the Italian school system would be required to learn Italian. She argued that schools need to support language learning and integration, while saying students should attend school with their faces uncovered. The government has not yet specified the proposed maximum number of foreign students per class.

According to Fondazione ISMU, students with non-Italian citizenship accounted for an estimated 11.6% of Italy’s school population in 2023/24, or about 930,000 students. The proposed measures would still need to go through the Italian legislative process before becoming law.

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