Italy decree limiting foreign pupils in classrooms could have near-zero impact

FILE PHOTO: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni delivers closing remarks at a rally celebrating her government's record as the longest-serving administration in Italy's republican history, in Bari, Italy, September 4, 2026. REUTERS/Remo Casilli/File Photo

ROME, Sept 28 - New rules to limit the number of foreign pupils in Italian classrooms, introduced by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, are set to affect at most just a few hundred children nationwide, according to experts and a Reuters analysis of public data.

Meloni's right-wing cabinet passed a decree last week setting a ceiling of 30% of foreign pupils per classroom and banning face coverings at school, moves that critics said were an attempt to counter the growing appeal of a rival far-right party National Future ahead of elections due next year.

The prime minister called the decree a common sense measure to support integration, "avoid ghetto classes and give all students the same opportunities."

However, Costanzo Ranci, head of the Social Policy Lab at Milan Polytechnic, told Reuters on Monday that the limit on foreign pupils would likely affect only around 300 children in the whole of Italy. He said the number would not exceed 1,000 and could even be zero.

The government has not provided its own estimate of how many pupils will be affected.

Estimates are approximate because the decree exempts foreign students born in Italy and those who have spent significant time in the Italian school system.

The total student population in Italy's state schools, excluding nurseries, is around 6.2 million, according to the most recent education ministry data for August 2025.

Around 2,600 schools, or 9% of the total, had more than 30% of foreign students in the 2024-2025 school year, according to a Reuters analysis of ministry data.

However, around 64.5% of these foreign students are Italian-born and therefore not affected by the decree. Applying that national share uniformly across schools would leave only 10 state schools above the threshold.

"My feeling is that the decree will not have a real impact on the day-to-day running of schools," Ranci said, adding that it would only apply to rather exceptional situations. REUTERS