15% of preschoolers don’t speak or understand enough Dutch to start primary school. In Brussels the figure stands at 40% of pre-schoolers, who are about to be registered in Flemish or Dutch-medium primary schools.
The figures are the result of the KOALA test that tests Dutch language proficiency of pupils in the last year of Flemish kindergartens in Flanders and its capital Brussels. The figures have remained unchanged for three years now. Flemish education minister Ben Weyts (Flemish nationalist) is providing extra support for schools with many new pupils with poor Dutch.