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Europe20 September, 20262 min read

Italy’s Council of Ministers Approves 30% Cap On Foreign Students, Bans Burqa And Niqab

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Ban full-face veils (burqa and niqab) in schools. Cap foreign students per class at about 30%.

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Italy’s Council of Ministers Approves 30% Cap On Foreign Students, Bans Burqa And Niqab
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Italy caps foreign students

Italy’s Council of Ministers approved a decree-law that sets a 30% cap on foreign students who do not adequately know Italian, with the cap applied through different criteria in primary and in lower and upper secondary schools. Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara said the rule’s central element is “knowledge of Italian” and clarified that “children born in Italy are not included in the 30% cap.”

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni framed the policy as a way to integrate without “ghetto classes,” and she said the decree includes “a stop to burqa and niqab at school.” The decree-law also requires parents of foreign students facing serious integration difficulties to learn Italian, and it provides sanctions “ranging from 200 to 1,000 euros” for parents who refuse to participate in the training courses.

Image from - AJN Agencia de Noticias
Image: - AJN Agencia de Noticias
Reporting for this sectionSky TG24Fanpage

Burqa and niqab ban

Italy’s decree-law bans wearing the niqab and burqa in school, and it provides for fines of up to 1,000 euros when the face is covered or otherwise obstructed from recognizing the face. The draft decree states that “Unless there are specific health or security reasons, there is a ban on participating in curricular and extracurricular activities” when the face is covered or recognition is obstructed.

Giorgia Meloni said the government had approved “a 30% limit in classes for students who do not adequately know Italian, plus tools to learn our language and a stop to burqa and niqab at school.” Giuseppe Valditara described the ban as part of a broader civilizational stance, saying “The burqa and niqab have no place in Italian schools,” while linking the policy to combatting patriarchy and discrimination against women.

Image from - Umbria 24
Image: - Umbria 24
Reporting for this sectionFanpageVirgilio Sapere

Controversy and numbers

Italian reporting tied the new classroom cap to existing figures, with Valditara saying there are “34,000 classes where the number of foreigners exceeds 30%,” and he added that “Implicit dispersion, i.e., failure to achieve competencies, is 5.7% for Italians and 10% for foreigners.” Corriere della Sera reported Valditara’s view that the cap should apply only when students “do not speak Italian well,” and it quoted him warning about the risk of “White flight.”

La Repubblica said the decree would transform into law an indication already existing for 16 years, and it reported that “Official statistics from the Ministry of Education stop at 2022/2023” and showed classes exceeding the 30% threshold at 7.6%. La Repubblica also reported that the decree would not extend the 30% cap to all minors without Italian citizenship, and it said the measure would focus on students with non-EU citizenship who have grave difficulty understanding and speaking Italian.

Reporting for this sectionSky TG24la Repubblica