Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced plans Sept. 20 to introduce legislation capping the number of foreign students in Italian classrooms and banning face-covering garments, including burqas and niqabs, in schools.
The conservative leader said her proposed measures aim to foster integration, preserve Italian cultural identity and ensure that native children do not feel sidelined in the classroom.
"There’s no way that in an Italian classroom, the ones who feel marginalized are Italian children because they have become a minority," Meloni said during a speech to Gioventù Nazionale, the youth wing of her conservative Brothers of Italy party, in Rome, according to France and Belgium, have previously imposed bans on face-coverings in public places, though enforcement and legal frameworks differ.
The proposed Italian legislation is expected to be considered by Italy’s Council of Ministers before being sent to Parliament for consideration.
Meloni, who has led Brothers of Italy since 2014 and served as president of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party from 2020 to 2025, has governed Italy since 2022.
Her administration recently surpassed previous records set by Silvio Berlusconi to become the longest-serving uninterrupted government in modern Italian history.