Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has announced plans to prohibit full-face coverings in schools and to set a legal maximum for the number of foreign students in each class, linking both measures to integration into Italian society.
Meloni made the announcement on Sunday at the annual gathering of the youth wing of her Brothers of Italy party. She said students would be required to attend school with their faces uncovered. The proposal concerns full-face veils, including burqas and niqabs. It does not extend to every Islamic head covering, such as the hijab.
“You must go to school with your face uncovered, and in Italy no one, in the name of a real or supposed tradition, can decide that a young woman must hide herself,” Meloni said.
She also said a measure would go before a Cabinet meeting to establish by law a maximum number of foreign students in each classroom. Meloni did not say what the proposed ceiling would be, nor did she set out a timetable for the measure’s presentation or passage.
The proposal would require parents of foreign students who face serious difficulties integrating into the school system to learn Italian. Meloni gave no further detail on how such difficulties would be defined or how the requirement would be applied.
Meloni argued that the number of pupils who do not understand Italian can affect the capacity of schools to integrate them. “If there is only one child in a class who doesn't understand Italian, that child will likely be able to learn the language and integrate quickly with the help of classmates and teachers,” she said.
She added: “However, if the number of children who don't understand the language becomes large – or even the majority – that is no longer integration; it is neglect.”
Students who are not Italian citizens make up 11.6 per cent of those enrolled in Italian schools, according to Fondazione ISMU. Italian law has limited foreign students to 30 per cent of a class and of a school’s enrolment since 2010. It remains unclear how Meloni’s proposed classroom limit would alter or operate alongside that existing rule.
Italy already has laws governing clothing that can obscure a person’s identity. A 1975 law prohibits helmets or garments that make identification difficult without a justified reason. In 2008, Italy’s highest administrative court said full-face veils could be worn for religious or cultural reasons, provided the wearer revealed their face when identity verification was required.
The proposed school restriction would therefore set a more specific rule for education settings. Meloni did not say whether it would cover school staff as well as pupils, or how it would be enforced.
The announcements follow a wider push by Meloni’s government for tighter migration controls since it took office in 2022. They also place Italy alongside several European countries that have adopted restrictions on face-covering clothing in public or in particular institutions.
France has a nationwide prohibition on concealing the face in public. Belgium, Denmark and Austria have introduced broad restrictions on face-covering clothing. Switzerland introduced a nationwide face-covering ban in 2025. The Netherlands adopted a narrower restriction in 2019, covering educational institutions, healthcare facilities, government buildings and public transport.
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