Antwerp’s city-run education network is forced to let more than 50 teachers go, with troubling consequences for the Okan programme that serves foreign youth who are learning Dutch
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Budget cuts mean 52 fewer teachers in Antwerp, with big effect on refugee pupils
Lisa Bradshaw
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Antwerp’s Stedelijk Onderwijs network will have to let the equivalent of 52 full-time secondary school teachers go, due to the Flemish government’s budget cuts in education. What according to city officials is an “incomprehensible” measure is part of a larger round of cuts to education headed up by Flemish education minister Zuhal Demir (N-VA).
The cuts were made specifically to Antwerp’s smaller classrooms, follow-up coaches in the Okan second-language programme and school community partnerships. “Flanders is saving on the backs of pupils who need the most support,” said city councillor Marij Preneel (Groen).
This is not only increasing teachers’ workload, it’s decreasing young people’s chance at success
City Councillor Marij Preneel
Preneel points out that one-third of pupils in the city-run secondary school network are behind the expected level for their age, compared to the 22% average in Flanders. “There is extra need for support in the classroom in Antwerp,” she contends. “Eliminating the follow-up coaches who help newcomers find their way in our education system at a time like this is not only increasing teachers’ workload, it’s decreasing young people’s chance at success.”
Antwerp already has a shortage in secondary school spots, she continues. “In May, some 2,000 12-year-olds found out that they don’t yet have a spot in a school in the autumn. We are urgently trying to solve this problem, but these forced cuts make this search even harder.”