Flemish nationalist N-VA, socialist Vooruit and Christian democrat CD&V have reached a coalition agreement for a new Flemish government. VRT News has been given access to the substance of the accord. What does it mean for pupils, parents and childcare?
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New Flemish government: no school grant for parents who refuse to learn Dutch
Colin Clapson
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Education
The new Flemish government clearly wants to invest in education: the education budget will grow by half a billion euros a year, mainly in order to boost the quality of education.
Knowledge of Dutch is a priority for the new Flemish government. Non-Dutch-speaking parents who refuse to learn Dutch will lose their school grant. The language level requirements for newcomers will also be raised.
Minimum targets are being introduced for pre-schoolers and will include language targets.
At the end of kindergarten teachers meeting in the class council will decide whether a child is ready for the 1st grade. Parents cannot override that judgement, but they can appeal the decision.
In primary education, half the teaching time will go on maths and Dutch.
Minimum targets for Dutch in primary education will have to be met by every pupil, rather by pupils as a group.
Secondary schools are given more freedoms
Use of ‘differentiation hours’ in first grade will be ‘optimised’. This allows schools to choose whether to fill them in with general or practical or technical subjects.
The government wants to support vocational and technical education and will increase operating funds.
Teacher shortage addressed
The new administration also wants to make the job of teacher more attractive and reduce administrative hassle.
An extra budget for teacher training is being brought in as well as extra resources to make teachers more proficient and improve the quality of education.
New teachers starting the job will receive full pay while they will spend only 80 per cent of their time in front of a class. The rest of the time will be used to provide teacher guidance to them.
Options for leave will be scrutinised and the number of secondments from education will be reduced.
Schools will get more financial flexibility.
Special training will be provided for teachers entering the sector from other professions.
So called ‘teaching study days’ will be abolished to maximise teaching time.
Smartphones discouraged
Other measures include:
An additional 400 million euros will be freed up for a second major digital leap.
A smartphone ban is being introduced in primary education. This will also become a recommendation for secondary education.
Philosophical subjects, such as religion and ethics, will be replaced by a new subject, ‘interfaith dialogue’, in community education, i.e. state schools.
Big investments in well-being too
Extra cash should guarantee flexible and affordable childcare. Creating extra places is ‘an absolute priority’ for the new government.
At present, no additional action is planned to reduce the number of children per attendant.
The toddler’s grant is being abolished.
The government is also providing more cash to tackle waiting lists in health care and to improve care for the elderly.
The basic 'Growth Package' (formerly called child allowance) will be index-linked.
Income limits for social allowances (allowances for families with limited income) will be phased out. Nothing will change for current beneficiaries. The intention is to apply the new system to new entrants from 2026.
The new government also plans to focus on preventing eating disorders and addictions.
It also wants to prioritise environmental health by taking measures ‘on climate and health and environmental quality of life’. Issues to be tackled include air pollution, noise pollution and harmful substances like PFAS, asbestos and heavy metals.