Italy's cap on foreign pupils per class: what Meloni announced and what it means for families

On 20 September Italy's prime minister pledged a legal cap on foreign pupils, a ban on the burqa and niqab in schools and compulsory Italian for some parents. It is an announcement, not yet a law. Here is who it affects if you are moving.

On 20 September 2026, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced three school measures at a rally in Rome: a legal cap on foreign pupils per class, a ban on the burqa and niqab in schools, and compulsory Italian for parents of children with serious integration difficulties. By 23 September, Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara had filled in some detail: a decree-law, a 30% threshold, and pupils counted by their Italian rather than their passport. Mind the status: as of publication these are political statements, no text has been published and nothing is law yet.

What Meloni announced

Meloni spoke on Sunday 20 September at Fenix, the festival of the youth wing of her Fratelli d'Italia (Brothers of Italy) party, and said the package would soon go to the Council of Ministers (Consiglio dei ministri, the Italian cabinet). Three parts:

• A cap on foreign pupils per class, set in law. She gave no figure that day.
• A ban on the burqa and niqab in schools. Her line: you go to school with your face uncovered.
• Compulsory Italian for parents of foreign pupils with serious difficulties fitting into school.

Her argument: whoever comes to Italy to build a future must learn the language, understand the culture and respect the rules. Migration is also a central issue ahead of the general election expected in 2027.

A 30% limit has existed since 2010, but rarely bit

What is new is the attempt to make the principle binding. On 8 January 2010, the education ministry under Mariastella Gelmini issued Circular No. 2: the share of pupils without Italian citizenship in a class should not normally exceed 30%. It was phased in from 2010/2011, starting with first-year classes.

Regional school office directors could raise the threshold where foreign children already spoke Italian (often those born in Italy) or lower it where their Italian was weak. In practice the rule was seldom applied, owing to poor coordination and many exemptions.

Scale: depending on the source, between about 860,000 and 930,000 pupils lack Italian citizenship, roughly 11-12% of all pupils, and around two thirds of them were born in Italy. Shares are highest in the north (Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy, Veneto, Milan, Bologna), while many southern classes have under 5%. Classes with more than 20% first-generation migrant children number about 1,000 out of roughly 300,000.

On 23 September Meloni answered critics by noting that such limits were discussed before, including in 1989-1990 circulars issued when the current president, Sergio Mattarella, was education minister.

Who counts as a foreign pupil: passport or language

This is the key question for families, and the wording shifted within three days. Meloni spoke of foreign pupils; the 2010 circular counts by citizenship. Valditara, on 22-23 September, described something different:

• the cap is 30% of pupils who do not know Italian well enough; the criterion, he said, is purely linguistic;
• children who attended an Italian nursery (scuola dell'infanzia, the pre-primary stage) or spent enough years in Italian schools will not count;
• EU citizens are covered: his example was a Polish pupil with no Italian;
• it applies from this school year to new arrivals; existing classes will not be broken up;
• local school offices and head teachers will spread pupils across nearby schools, with exemptions and extra Italian where that is impossible;
• more than 14 million euros is earmarked for additional Italian lessons.

What it means for families moving to Italy

None of the statements says foreign children will be turned away. Article 34 of the Italian Constitution declares school open to all, and legal scholars are already citing it. The issue is allocation: if a class at the nearest school hits the cap, a child may go to a neighbouring one.

• Investor and other residence permits. A foreign child arriving without Italian is exactly who the rule targets. If you are applying for an Italian investor residence permit, allow for a school that is not the closest.
• Digital nomads. Families on the Italian digital nomad visa pick a city for work and rent. In the north, foreign pupil shares are higher, and so is the chance the nearest school is near the threshold.
• Citizenship by descent. An Italian-citizen child is not foreign under a citizenship test, but under a language test a passport alone may not help; this has not been clarified. And since the 2025 reform, Italian citizenship by descent is recognised for far fewer descendants.
• EU citizens. Per the minister, another EU passport does not exempt a child without Italian. On holding several passports, see our dual citizenship guide.
• Children already in Italian schools. Existing classes stay as they are, and after an Italian nursery or several school years a child should fall outside the cap.

The takeaway: your child's Italian goes from nice-to-have to a factor with formal weight. Starting lessons before the move makes sense whatever happens. More in our piece on relocating with children.

Burqa, niqab and Italian for parents

Italy has no specific burqa ban. A 1975 law bars being in public, without justified reason, in a helmet or anything that hinders identification, but in 2008 the Council of State (Consiglio di Stato, the top administrative court) accepted religious motives as justified if the face is shown for identity checks. The new rule settles this for schools. The statements name the burqa and niqab, garments that cover the face.

For parents, who decides that a child has serious integration difficulties, what the courses look like and what happens on refusal had not been disclosed at publication.

Private and international schools as an alternative

Many families moving short-term choose a private or international school anyway, but even there nothing is settled.

• Paritaria schools (private schools recognised as equivalent to state ones) belong to the national system. Whether the cap applies to them has not been specified.
• International schools teaching British, American or IB programmes in English charge fees. The debate so far concerns state schools, with no statement on international ones.
• State schools remain free and, for long-term residents, the most natural route into the language. The cap does not close that route but may affect which school you get.

Fees vary widely by city, so choose the city and the school together. Our guides to Rome and Milan are a good start.

What we know and what we do not

Procedure: an Italian decree-law takes effect on publication, but parliament must convert it within 60 days or it lapses, and the president first reviews it, including for constitutionality and genuine urgency. The opposition, including Milan mayor Giuseppe Sala, calls it propaganda, and critics cite Article 34. The final text may differ from the announcements, so plan with slack.

Legal routes to Italy for a family

The school measures do not change the immigration routes themselves:

Choosing from scratch? Start with our overviews of residence permits and digital nomad visas.

Our services for Italy

We handle a move to Italy from choosing the legal basis to settling in. If your task is not listed, describe it - we have most likely dealt with it.

Also worth planning early: health insurance, your tax residency switch and property in Italy. All programmes are on the Italy overview.

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