Italy is preparing to ban face coverings in schools and to cap the number of foreign students per class, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Sunday as she played up her right-wing credentials at a youth event organised by her party.

Italy is among the European countries most exposed to migrant arrivals because of its central Mediterranean location, making migration a hot-button issue and a major challenge for successive governments.

The integration of migrants, particularly those from Muslim-majority countries, remains contentious in Italian politics and society. Debates over religious symbols, cultural integration, citizenship rules and immigration policy frequently polarise public opinion.

“A measure will soon be presented to a Cabinet meeting to legally establish a maximum number of foreign students per class. It also requires parents of foreign students facing serious difficulties integrating into the school system to learn Italian and bans burqas and niqabs in schools,” Meloni told an annual gathering of the youth wing of her Brothers of Italy party.

“If there is only one child in a class who doesn’t understand Italian, that child will likely be able to learn the language and integrate quickly with the help of classmates and teachers. However, if the number of children who don’t understand the language becomes large — or even the majority — that is no longer integration; it is neglect,” she added.

Meloni did not specify what the maximum number of foreign students per class would be.

Students who are not Italian citizens account for 11.6 per cent of those enrolled in Italian schools — nearly 12 in every 100 students — according to Fondazione ISMU, a research institution.

“You must go to school with your face uncovered, and in Italy no one, in the name of a real or supposed tradition, can decide that a young woman must hide herself, “ Meloni said.