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.

“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.

“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.

The limit on the number of foreign students per class already exists under Italian law, and Meloni did not spell out how that would change.

Since 2010, the number of foreign students has been limited to 30 per cent of a class and of a school’s enrolment.

A crackdown on the use of burqas in schools was called for in July by the National Future (FN) party.

The FN, which is not part of the governing coalition, is further to the right than Meloni’s and has emerged as a major challenger, rising sharply in the polls since launching in February.

While there is no law in Italy that expressly bans burqas, either in schools or in public places, a 1975 law prohibits the use of helmets or garments that make identification difficult without a justified reason.

In 2008, Italy’s highest administrative court clarified that full-face veils may be worn for religious or cultural reasons provided that the face is revealed when identity verification is required.

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