Research by VRT News has revealed that several hundred non Dutch-speaking school-age newcomers are on waiting lists for a place in a so-called “OKAN” class. OKAN or “Onthaalklas voor Anderstalige Nieuwkomers (Reception class for newcomers that speak another language) is education that offers intensive language training and other support to enable youngsters that arrive here to acquire a sufficient knowledge of the Dutch language.
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Hundreds of non-Dutch-speaking youngsters on waiting list for a place in reception class for newcomers
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Some schools have special OKAN classes. However, in many parts of Flanders the number of places available in these classes appears to be insufficient to meet demand. Some youngsters have been told that they will have to wait until September before a place will be available for them. The shortage has come despite many secondary schools having created additional places in recent months. However, with the number of pupils enrolled in OKAN classes having risen by 50% since this time last year many young people are still ending up on waiting lists.
One young person that is waiting for a place in an OKAN class is Samantha Pasion. She is 13 and has been living in Ostend (West Flanders) with her West Flemish stepfather and her Filipino mother.
She has been waiting for a place in an OKAN class for months. However, no school in Ostend has any places available and it is likely that she will have to wait until September. Her stepfather has been teaching her himself 1 hour a day and she does language learning exercises each day too. While she knows a good few individual words she is still unable to construct sentences in Dutch. Samantha is disappointed and would like to start school as soon as possible. Her stepfather says that they are being pushed from pillar to post and that Samantha is an excellent student that always got 90% at her previous school, an international school in the Philippines.
Samantha is just one of hundreds of young people in this situation.
Johan De Wilde is Chair of the Local Consultation Platform for Education in Aalst (East Flanders). He told VRT News that “The right to education is being violated and as a result they are not only missing out on the chance to learn the language, but also to develop mentally. It leads to them being excluded in other ways and that is very frustrating”.
Waiting lists
The situation is most acute in Antwerp Province. In Turnhout there are around 30 youngsters on the waiting list. In Mechelen this is 73. In Antwerp there are currently 320 youngsters waiting for a place in an OKAN class. There a project has been launched to help around 70 of these. They are able to spend their days with various youth organisations. However, this is not the same at all as them attending school.
In Leuven too, where between 15 and 20 youngsters are waiting for a place there is a similar project.
In Brussels, where 55 young people are on the waiting list schools are collborating with schools in nearby municipalities in Flemish Brabant to find places for those on the waiting list.
In East Flanders there are 16 youngsters on the waiting list in Aalst and 30 in Sint-Niklaas. However, there are some places still free in Ghent. In West Flanders the picture is mixed.
There are 35 youngsters on the waiting list in Ostend and all the OKAN class places are full in Roeslare, but there is no waiting list in Bruges or Kortrijk. In Limburg Province there are currently no issues with waiting lists.
Record number
Never before were so many young people enrolled as OKAN pupils in secondary education. Last month this figure had reached 8,454, a rise of 50% on this time last year.