Ceiling for foreign students, models in Europe between transition classes and language tests

In front of the Youth National audience, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced the imminent arrival of a measure that will place a cap on the number of foreign students in classes. The Minister of Education Giuseppe Valditara specified that the criterion will be "purely linguistic" and assured that the decree will not divide the classes, but the measure continues to raise controversy. From the United States to Sweden, the models adopted by other Western countries regarding the inclusion of immigrant children in school systems are varied. All, however, albeit with different declinations, start from understanding the language and move along a precise direction: no percentage quotas or rigid ceilings, but language tests and temporary transition classes.

In Germany, regulation on the topic is entrusted to the individual Länder, but the model adopted provides for the temporary inclusion of children who do not know the language in special classes (Willkommensklassen). The objective is to bring them to a minimum level before aggregating them to the rest of the students. The idea behind the French system is similar. The integration occurs in two steps. The pupils, who are looked after by the Unité Pédagogique pour Élèves Allophones Arrivants, are immediately placed in ordinary classes for non-verbal subjects (such as art, gymnastics or mathematics), while they must follow French courses for a certain number of hours per week. In the Netherlands, primary school children who do not know the language are placed in bridge classes with intensive courses. They can attend them full time, part time or as an extension of the school day.

The British model is different, which involves a real "full immersion" and does not include transition classes. Foreign students study immediately alongside their peers, with the support of specialized teachers co-presence within the classroom.

The situation in Belgium is more complex, where the system varies between linguistic communities. If in Flanders intensive courses are provided in the taalheldklassen, in the French-speaking community pupils can be included in Daspa programmes, with intensive courses in French and basic subjects for a maximum of 18 months, or receive linguistic support through the FLA device, which is not necessarily a separate class.

In Sweden, “newly arrived” status exists for a maximum of four years after entering the country. Students who do not speak Swedish are placed in special preparatory classes (förberedelseklass), but are at the same time integrated into the mainstream class.