Beset by Far-Right Rival, Italy’s Meloni Tightens Foreign Pupil Rules
- On Thursday, Italy's cabinet, led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, approved a decree capping pupils with limited Italian proficiency at 30% per classroom and banning face-covering veils in schools, effective immediately.
- Meloni's administration introduced these measures driven by political pressure from the National Future movement, which currently polls at around 8% and aims to shore up conservative support ahead of the 2027 general election.
- Starting in the 2027-28 school year, the cap applies to students lacking Italian proficiency, requiring authorities to redistribute pupils if classrooms exceed the threshold, with fines of up to $1,137 for face coverings.
- Democratic Party leader Elly Schlein denounced the move as a "shameful decree" to hide systemic failures, while principals warn of logistical challenges and President Sergio Mattarella expressed wariness about barriers on education.
- Roughly 900,000 foreign students attend Italian schools, comprising 11.6% of the population, far below the immigrant shares of 21% in Germany and 19% in Spain, per ISMU Foundation and Rockwool Foundation data.
123 Articles
123 Articles
Italy's government decided on several changes to the school system on Thursday, including a ceiling of about 30 percent for students who do not have sufficient knowledge of Italian, and a ban on Burka and Niqab.
Italy caps non-Italian speakers in classes, bans face-covering veils in schools
Italy has imposed a classroom cap on students with limited Italian and banned face-covering veils in schools. The decree has sharpened debate over integration, enforcement and immigration politics ahead of possible elections.
Beset by far-right rival, Italy’s Meloni tightens foreign pupil rules
By Angelo Amante ROME, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Italy's right-wing government on Thursday passed rules to limit the number of foreign pupils at school and ban face coverings, a move opponents said was designed to counter the growing appeal of a rival far-ri...
La Razón
The Objective | Periodismo ethosThe measures have raised a great deal of political debate in the country and doubts about its constitutionality
The left opposition interprets that the measure of the Prime Minister seeks to contain her new rival in the far right, Roberto Vannacci. More information: Ban the burka in school and limit foreign students by class, Meloni's gesture to approach the 'ultra' Vannacci
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- 34% of the sources lean Left, 33% of the sources are Center, 33% of the sources lean Right
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