Italy’s government is considering a proposal to limit the proportion of migrant children in classrooms to 30 percent, as Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s administration pushes new measures aimed at promoting integration and strengthening the use of the Italian language in schools.
Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara has proposed the classroom limit alongside compulsory Italian language lessons for parents of migrant children whose children are struggling academically.
The proposals are expected to be discussed at an education conference in the autumn involving teachers, trade unions, student representatives and politicians.
Valditara said limiting the concentration of foreign pupils in individual classrooms would help children learn Italian and become familiar with what he described as Italy’s shared values and culture.
“It is fundamental that there should not be a high percentage of foreign children in a classroom because it means they will find it harder to learn the Italian language and the values of our community,” he said.
Under the proposal, parents whose children are experiencing difficulties at school could be required to attend Italian language classes. Valditara said parents’ ability to communicate with teachers and participate in their children’s education was essential to successful integration.
The minister also raised concerns about school absenteeism among migrant children, claiming that the rate was about 26 percent, compared with 6 percent among Italian children.
The government has yet to clarify how compulsory language classes or the proposed classroom cap would be enforced.
Valditara has argued that migrant children from households where Italian is rarely spoken can struggle to retain what they learn at school if there is little support for language development at home.
Italy’s schools have undergone significant demographic changes in recent decades as immigration has increased.
There are currently around 930,000 children in Italian schools who do not hold Italian nationality, accounting for nearly 12 percent of the total student population. Their share has increased substantially from about 3.5 percent two decades ago.
The proportion is considerably higher in some schools, particularly in northern Italy, where stronger economic conditions have attracted migrant families.
European nationals account for around 43 percent of migrant pupils, with large communities originating from Romania, Albania, Ukraine and Moldova.
Approximately 32 percent come from African countries, particularly Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia, Nigeria and Senegal, while about one-fifth are from Asia, including Bangladesh, China, India, the Philippines and Pakistan.
More than 8 percent come from Latin American countries, mainly Ecuador and Peru.
The proposed measures have already drawn criticism from education unions and opposition politicians.
FLC-CGIL, a teachers’ union, criticised the idea of prosecuting or imprisoning parents who fail to ensure their children attend school, arguing that criminal penalties could undermine rather than strengthen integration.
The union also rejected compulsory Italian lessons for migrant parents, saying that making language education mandatory could alienate families from schools instead of encouraging greater participation.
The proposals come as Meloni’s conservative government faces increasing political pressure from the right over immigration, national identity and integration.
Critics argue that the government is adopting tougher positions on migration and cultural issues partly to compete with emerging right-wing political forces.
One of those forces is National Future, a party founded by former Italian army general Roberto Vannacci. The party has gained support in opinion polls and has overtaken the League in popularity, according to the report.
Vannacci has advocated a range of hardline policies, including greater use of the military for domestic security, stronger emphasis on military values in schools and the return of migrants to their countries of origin.
The debate over the proposed classroom limit therefore comes amid a wider political discussion in Italy over how the country should manage immigration while ensuring that migrant children have access to education and opportunities to integrate into Italian society.