Education and integration, from Italia to Sweden: how Europe is tackling the challenge of foreign students
From the ‘roof’ scheme for international students proposed by the Meloni government to Germany’s language classes, right through to the models adopted in France, Spain and the Nordic countries: here’s how European education systems are tackling the challenge of integrating pupils from migrant backgrounds
by Silvia Martelli (Il Sole 24 Ore, Italia), Francesca Barca (Voxeurop, France), Karolina Słowik (Gazeta Wyborcza, Poland) and Petr Jedlička (Deník Referendum, Czech Republic)
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From preparatory classes for new arrivals in Germany and Sweden to France’s strict principles of secularism, via the language programmes introduced in Poland following the arrival of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees. Across Europe, governments and education systems are seeking to answer the same question: how to integrate a growing number of pupils from different linguistic and cultural backgrounds without creating segregation or compromising learning.
It is in this context that
The proposal comes at a time when pupils who are not Italian nationals account for around 11.6 per cent of the national school-age population – according to data compiled by the ISMU Foundation based on ISTAT figures for the 2024/2025 school year – and brings back to the forefront of the debate an issue that affects much of the continent: striking a balance between linguistic integration, social inclusion and the cohesion of school communities.
Italia: the return of the cap on foreign students
The idea of setting a maximum quota for foreign pupils is not entirely new. In Italia, a ministerial circular has been in place for years, setting a target limit of 30 per cent of pupils with non-Italian citizenship per class, but the measure has largely gone unenforced in areas with a high migrant population. The president of the National Association of Headteachers himself, Antonello Giannelli, has described the proposal as ‘reasonable’ from an educational point of view but difficult to implement in practice, particularly in schools in neighbourhoods where the foreign population is particularly large.
France: no numerical limits, but strict secularism
In France, there are no quotas or caps on the number of foreign students. The right to education is guaranteed to all children, regardless of their nationality or knowledge of French. Newly arrived students are enrolled in the EANA programme, which provides intensive language support with the aim of integrating them quickly into mainstream classes.
