Meloni promises to ban veils in Italian schools and limit foreign students

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said her government is preparing two legislative proposals that would ban face coverings in Italian schools and restrict the number of foreign students allowed in classrooms.

“Italian children cannot feel like a minority in the classroom,” she said Sunday in a speech at Fenix, an annual event organized by the youth division of her right-wing Brothers of Italy party.

“If the number of children who do not understand the language of instruction becomes large, or even forms the majority, that is no longer integration; that is neglect,” Meloni added.

Roughly 930,000 students without Italian citizenship are enrolled in the country’s schools, representing almost 11.6% of the school population, according to research institute Fondazione ISMU.

Over the last decade, the number of foreign minors in the country has fallen by 4.5%, ISMU found.

Meloni did not elaborate on what her cabinet’s proposed cap on foreign students might entail.

The Italian leader came to power buoyed by voters concerned with immigration issues, and made tackling migration a key pillar of her campaign.

It’s not the first time Meloni’s government has looked to ban face coverings. In 2025 her party said it had plans to ban the burqa and niqab in all public spaces nationwide, calling the legislation a response to “Islamic separatism.” The bill is still under consideration in the country’s lower house.