On Thursday (September 24, 2026), the Italian Council of Ministers approved a new decree for schools that includes a package of measures related to the integration of foreign students, most notably setting a ceiling for some categories of students who do not have Italian citizenship in the first grades, in addition to banning the niqab and burqa inside schools.
Under the decree, the percentage of students covered by the new rules will not exceed 30% of the total first-grade students, but the ceiling does not apply to all foreign students automatically, but rather depends on the length of their presence and their path within the Italian educational system.
At the primary level, the ceiling includes students who do not have Italian citizenship and who were not born in the country or who have not attended kindergarten for at least two years. In the preparatory and secondary levels, it is applied to students who have not successfully studied for at least three years within the Italian educational system.
If the number of students enrolled exceeds the prescribed percentage, local educational offices intervene in cooperation with school administrations to redistribute students to nearby educational institutions, taking into account the place of residence, family circumstances, and the child’s right to education. Exceptions may be granted when there are no practical alternatives, especially in some family cases related to caring for children with disabilities.
Implementation difficulties
Implementation of the decision may face difficulties in areas with a high density of foreign residents. There are 4,664 schools out of 52,392, containing more than 30% of students who do not have Italian citizenship, and a large percentage of them are concentrated in the north and center of the country.
The decree also includes a ban on covering the face during lessons, school activities, and meetings between parents and teachers, except for specific health or security reasons. In practice, this means banning the niqab and burqa, but it does not include the veil, which leaves the face exposed.
The fine for a violation ranges between two hundred and one thousand euros, and if the violator is a minor, the person exercising parental responsibility may be subject to the penalty.
Teaching families the Italian language
The decree extends to the file of parents learning the Italian language. If the school deems that the presence of persistent language barriers among the parents hinders the child’s integration and education, the family can be referred to social services to prepare a support program that includes free Italian language courses with the aim of reaching the “A2” level.
In cases where the family rejects the program without acceptable justifications and this leads to tangible harm to the minor’s education and integration, the law opens the way for the intervention of the juvenile court, and in specific cases the matter may lead to placing the child outside the family. This does not mean that language weakness alone automatically leads to the child being withdrawn from his parents, but rather it requires the presence of actual harm and a social and judicial process.
In 2010, Italy had previously set an indicative ceiling of 30% for students who did not have Italian citizenship, but the previous system allowed for broad exceptions and gave schools greater flexibility. The new decree gives the rule a more binding legislative basis and defines more precisely the categories that are included in calculating the percentage.
The decision sparked sharp criticism from the opposition, as Chiara Braga, head of the Democratic Party bloc in the House of Representatives, considered it a discriminatory measure targeting minors, while the Meloni government says the goal is to prevent the concentration of students who face linguistic difficulties in specific classes and improve their learning and integration opportunities.
