The education sector in Ninove (East Flanders) is voicing concern after the far-right Forza Ninove list, led by Vlaams Belang lawmaker Guy D’haeseleer, obtained an absolute majority in last Sunday’s local elections and the far-right politician is set to become burgomaster of the East Flemish city. Educationalists are worried about Forza Ninove’s plan to impose a deadline by which non-native newcomers will in future have to learn Dutch. The party only wants local social services to provide social benefits once newcomers have mastered the Dutch language. It is not yet clear exactly which timeframe will operate and what level of Dutch newcomers will have to achieve.
Far-right mayor-elect’s plans for newcomers in Ninove unsettle education sector
Colin Clapson
Published:
From the beginning of December, Forza Ninove will administer East Flemish Ninove, but it is not clear which social benefits non-Dutch speakers with poor Dutch are at risk of losing. The party wants to go further than the Flemish government's ambitions related to knowledge of the Dutch language.
Any newcomer settling in Flanders from outside the EU is already obliged to follow a compulsory integration programme. A Dutch language course forms part of that. Forza Ninove, which won the local elections on Sunday, wants to link knowledge of the Dutch language to the right to obtain social benefits from locl social services.
The party's election programme says non-Dutch-speaking newcomers will have to show results in acquiring knowledge of Dutch rather than simply showing they are making an effort. Anybody knocking on Ninove social services’ door will have to achieve results in say 2 years. Claimants who do not acquire a sufficient knowledge of Dutch in that time will in principle not be able to acquire support.’
The fact that the time limit within which newcomers must learn Dutch and the level to be attained are not specified worries educationalists offering Dutch courses to non-native speakers. ‘Dutch is a particularly difficult language and you really need a lot of time to get it right,’ claims Ghislain De Bondt of LIGO, the centre for basic education. He does think it is good that a lot of attention is paid to the acquisition of Dutch.
‘People taking our course already come to Dutch classes 3-4 times a week. I don't see them having to increase that frequency to 6 or 7 days a week. It is already quite a challenge for us to pursue a hobby once a week or attend a sports or evening school.’
Full classes, but no waiting lists
The language classes now offered by LIGO are full. ‘But there are no waiting lists either,’ Mr De Bondt clarifies. ‘I suspect that demand could increase, but that's a bit unclear at the moment.’
CVO Groeipunt, Campus Ninove, that provides adult education is more or less on the same wavelength. ‘We have seen large numbers of new students in recent years, but we can also meet that demand because we have also considerably expanded our offerings,’ says director Dave Bonte. ‘The people taking our courses are required to do so. We also see many non-native speakers, who voluntarily enrol in our courses.’
At the CVO campus, people can now choose between 1, 2, 3 and 4-year courses to learn the language. ‘All courses offer the same quality but I wonder if people who today choose to learn the language in 4 years, will succeed in learning it even more quickly. Their personal situation and work commitments may form a stumbling block.’
Forza Ninove’s Guy D'haeseleer already advocates an extensive range of language courses ‘so that people also get the chance to learn the language.’
A Dutch language course is compulsory for people from outside the EU settling in Flanders, as it is part of their compulsory integration package. EU citizens or Ukrainians who enjoy the separate status of temporarily displaced persons are entitled to take the civic integration course, but it is not compulsory.