Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced on Saturday at a youth event that Italy will ban face coverings on school campuses and is considering limiting the number of foreign students per class.
The event, organized by Meloni’s party, the “Brothers of Italy,” marks her government’s proactive response to the ongoing challenge of non-European immigration, primarily from the Islamic world. The aim is to ensure that these young children can better integrate into Italian society.
Meloni stated, “For us, anyone who wants to develop in Italy must first learn our language, understand and respect our culture, and abide by the rules here. This is the only feasible way for us to sincerely welcome them.”
The core of this education reform, as emphasized by Meloni, is mandatory learning of the Italian language. She stressed that if only one child in a class does not understand Italian, they can quickly learn with the help of teachers and peers to integrate into the collective. However, if the majority of the class consists of students who do not understand Italian, it is no longer integration but a kind of disguised neglect.
Although Meloni did not provide specific details on the proportion of the restriction, data from the ISMU Foundation shows that currently 11.6% of students in Italian schools are foreign, equivalent to around 12 out of 100 students being foreigners.
Additionally, the ban on face coverings on campuses is an important part of the policy to accelerate the integration of foreign students. Meloni bluntly stated, “You must show your face when going to school. In Italian society, no one can force young women to cover their faces under the guise of tradition or authenticity.”
However, she did not mention hijabs, traditional headscarves that only cover the hair and not the face, in her speech.
If the draft policy is approved by the cabinet, it will still need parliamentary approval within 60 days to take effect officially.
For years, the Meloni government has been committed to curbing illegal immigration, not only by expediting deportation processes through legal means but also by preventing those who smuggle into Italy and then are caught abroad from re-entering the country.
In late July, tens of thousands of Moroccans forcefully entered the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in North Africa. Italian authorities took related preventive measures against Spain, citing the prevention of “serious internal security risks” and the potential threat of terrorist infiltration.