Last week, Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government approved a decree limiting the share of foreign pupils in each classroom to 30 percent and banning face coverings at school. Meloni called the rules a common-sense measure to strengthen integration, saying they aim to prevent “ghetto classes” and give every pupil the same opportunities.
Costanzo Ranci, head of the Social Policy Lab at Milan Polytechnic, told Reuters on Monday that the cap would probably affect about 300 children across Italy. He said the number was unlikely to exceed 1,000 and could even be zero. The government has not provided its own estimate.
The figures are approximate because the decree exempts foreign pupils born in Italy and those who have attended the Italian school system for a significant period. Italy’s public schools have about 6.2 million pupils, excluding preschools, according to the Education Ministry’s latest figures from August 2025.
Reuters’ analysis of ministry data found that about 2,600 schools—9 percent of the total—had more than 30 percent foreign pupils in the 2024–25 school year. But roughly 64.5 percent of those pupils were born in Italy and are therefore exempt. If the national proportion were applied evenly to every school, only 10 public schools would exceed the threshold.
Ranci said the decree was unlikely to have a substantial impact on the day-to-day running of schools and would apply only in exceptional cases. Critics also view the measures in the context of next year’s election and the rising appeal of the rival far-right party National Future; the government presents them as integration policy.