The Council of Ministers has approved the provision which will introduce a limit of 30% of foreign students in classes, with different parameters and cases between primary and lower and upper secondary schools. Sanctions if parents do not learn Italian. Stop the use of burqa and niqab at school: fines of up to 1,000 euros are foreseen. Meloni: "Decree for a school that integrates without giving up the rules"
The Council of Ministers approved the law decree on schools which includes, among other things, a cap on the number of foreigners in school classes. Other rules concern sanctions for parents who do not learn Italian and a stop to the use of burqas and niqabs in class. Prime Minister Meloni is satisfied: "We have approved the decree on schools. A limit of 30% in classes for students who do not know Italian adequately, more tools for learning our language and an end to burqas and niqabs at school. Common sense tools that do not divide, but help to truly integrate, avoiding ghetto classes and giving all students the same opportunities. For a school that integrates without giving up the rules, that supports those who have more difficulties and that puts everyone in a position to start from the same point." On the agenda of the Council of Ministers there was also an urgent measure concerning justice and a third with which the blocking of the circulation of Euro 5 diesel vehicles in the Padano Basin was avoided.
The cap on foreigners in classrooms
According to the draft law decree, in primary school "the number of pupils with non-Italian citizenship and who were not born in Italy or who have not attended at least two years of nursery school" must not exceed 30% of the total in each first class. In lower and upper secondary schools, the 30% ceiling in the first grades concerns "students with non-Italian citizenship who have not successfully attended the national education system for at least three school years". The Minister of Education Giuseppe Valditara, answering a question at the press conference, specified that "children born in Italy do not fall within the 30% ceiling".
What does it predict
As stated in the draft decree, the educational institutions, "within their autonomy" will use these criteria to establish the initial classes of elementary, middle and high schools "starting from the 2027/28 school year", "in order to guarantee a balanced composition of the classes, functional to the quality of the educational and teaching action, to the full enjoyment of the right to study and the integration of foreign students". In the case of enrollment during the year in the first class or at the beginning or during the year in subsequent classes, the draft provides that educational institutions must ensure, from the school year that has just begun, "the inclusion of pupils and students in classes in which the presence of foreign pupils and students does not exceed the ceiling of 30%.
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What happens when that's not possible
If it is not possible to apply the ceiling to foreign pupils for the number of enrollment applications, "the local school offices, in agreement with the school managers concerned, adopt the organizational measures necessary to guarantee a balanced presence of such pupils and students among nearby educational institutions, in compliance with the principle of proximity and full effectiveness of the right to education, taking into account the domicile of the pupil or student or, in any case, the proven family needs, with particular reference to those connected to the need for assistance to children with disabilities, which do not allow alternative solutions".
Valditara: "34 thousand classes in which foreigners exceed 30%"
"There are 34 thousand classes that have a number of foreigners that exceeds 30%. First generation foreign children have one year less of preparation in Italian. The implicit dispersion or failure to achieve skills is 5.7% for Italians and 10% for foreigners", said Minister Valditara in a press conference. "Our goal is to put the Italian language at the center as a great tool for integration, knowing Italian means integrating, there is nothing to do with old circulars that saw small numbers of foreigners per class".
Fines of up to 1,000 euros if parents do not learn Italian
"All international studies say that the participation of parents in their child's educational path is fundamental for academic success", said Minister Valditara after the CDM. There are OECD data and recommendations in this sense. We have decided that if there are serious problems with school placement, parents' language learning path must be encouraged. The school is obliged to report to social services and they will arrange an Italian language course for the parents. In the event of failure to complete the procedure, sanctions of between 200 and one thousand euros are foreseen."
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Stop burqa and niqab at school
Another chapter of the decree concerns the use of burqa and niqab which, says Valditara, "have no place in Italian schools". However, it remains to be seen whether this rule could conflict with the 2008 ruling of the Council of State which establishes that wearing the full veil for religious reasons constitutes a "justified reason" which excludes the violation of the rules on the ban on masking, unless there is an unmotivated refusal to be identified by the authorities.
Fines of up to 1,000 euros
In the text of the decree, and then confirmed by Minister Valditara in the press conference, it is explained that "unless there are specific health or safety reasons, it is forbidden to participate in the curricular and extra-curricular activities of educational institutions and in those foreseen in the context of school-family relations with the face covered or with any other method capable of not allowing face recognition". There is an administrative fine of 200 euros to 1,000 euros which, when the violation is committed by a minor, applies to the parent.
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Technical and professional institutes become high schools
The technical institutes are called "technological high schools" and the professional institutes will be called "professional high schools". The provision also provides, for the professional technological supply chain, 20 million euros for the current year and 10 million euros for 2027.
Isee for books increased from 30 to 40 thousand euros'
"We have decided on various simplification measures which concern, for example, the PEI: it will no longer be necessary for parents to present this Plan every year, this favors a timely assignment of teachers and reduces bureaucracy. We then allocated 760 million for tutor teachers, money for digital simplification, 14 million to make the recruitment and life of school staff easier, also using the platform for school staff", says Minister Valditara at the end of the CDM. The minister explained that 21 million have been allocated for textbooks with +15% "and we are increasing the ISEE range from 30 to 40 thousand euros. Then we thought about changing the name of technical and professional institutes, a very important measure to promote a strategic sector for our economy. Finally, important residual resources from the Pnrr will be used which will be allocated for school construction".
Schlein: "Shame decree, witch hunt on children's skin"
The secretary of the Democratic Party Elly Schlein criticized the decree: "What comes out of today's Council of Ministers confirms that the Meloni government lives on another planet compared to the real country. These days Italian families are worried about the conditions of school buildings - in the last year alone 68 collapses and 80 thousand accidents -, about the over 500 euros to be spent on textbooks, while the salaries of Italian teachers remain among the lowest in Europe. Faced with all this, the response of the government is to throw foreign children out of the classroom. Who do they think they are kidding? After 4 years of cuts and no serious investment in school buildings, they are inventing a new witch hunt on the little ones, targeting them. It is a shameful decree, which tries to hide the government's inability to provide answers to the concrete problems of public schools.
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Ok Cdm to dl against blocking euro 5 diesel vehicles
The Council of Ministers has approved the decree-law which avoids blocking the circulation of Euro 5 diesel vehicles in the Padano Basin, reports a note from the MIT. "For the Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Matteo Salvini, who asked the Government for a targeted intervention", this is "an important result that meets the concrete needs of families, workers and the production system, avoiding a generalized blockade which would have had significant consequences on mobility and economic activities". In Italy there are approximately 3.5 million cars and 0.6 million commercial vehicles powered by Euro 5 diesel, while over 1.2 million cars and 200 thousand commercial vehicles are operational in the Padano Basin, adds the note.
The National Anti-Mafia Prosecutor also has powers for proceedings against minors
The National Anti-Mafia and Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor will also be able to exercise his powers on proceedings against minors. The innovation is introduced by a law decree on justice approved today by the Council of Ministers. In this case, we read in the text, the functions of the national anti-mafia and anti-terrorism prosecutor "are exercised towards the public prosecutor at the juvenile court". The measure, the decree highlights, was implemented "considering the extraordinary need and urgency to intervene to confirm and explain the powers of the national anti-mafia and anti-terrorism prosecutor in proceedings relating to crimes committed by minors, given the ever greater importance that the involvement of minors in serious crime phenomena assumes today".
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