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Education in FlandErs

A broad view of the Flemish educational landscape / 2008

�/ Education in FlandErs

Education in Flanders

Education in FlandersA broad view of the Flemish educational landscape


1 SituatingFlanders 5

1.1 FlandersinBelgiumandEurope 6

1.2 Flandersasafederatedstate 6

1.3 Maximumscope,alsoforeducationissues 7

1.4 Flemisheducationatregional,continentalandgloballevel 7

1.5 Asmallregionwithalargeschoolpopulation 9

2 Generalprinciples 11

2.1 Compulsoryeducationforallchildrenfromsixtoeighteen 12

2.2 Controlofeducationcostsuntiltheendofcompulsoryeducation 13

2.3 Freedomofeducation 14

2.4 Equalopportunitiesineducation 14

2.5 BrusselsPolicyoneducationalpriorities 15

2.6 Educationalnetworks 15

2.7 Financialsupporttoeducation 17

2.8 Autonomy 18

2.9 Thelegalpositionofstaff 19

2.10 Organisationoftheschoolandacademicyear 20

2.11 Participation 21

3 Levelsofeducation 23

3.1 Structureofeducation 25

3.2 NurseryandPrimaryeducation 26

3.3 Secondaryeducation 30

3.4 Highereducation 34

3.5 Part-timeartseducation 36

3.6 Adulteducation 38

contents

Education in FlandErs /�

4 Supportandqualitycontrol 41

4.1 PupilGuidanceCentres(CLBs) 42

4.2 Informationandcommunicationtechnologies(ICT) 42

4.3 Communication 44

4.4 Qualitycontrolandqualitypromotion 46

5 Matchingeducationtolabourmarketneeds 49

5.1 Developmentoftalents:testinggrounds 50

5.2 Modularisation 51

5.3 TheCompetenceAgenda 51

5.4 Highervocationaleducation(HBO) 52

5.5 Lifelonglearning 53

6 Educationpolicyandsocialdevelopments 55

6.1 Pupilgrantsandstudentgrants 56

6.2 Anti-truancycampaign 57

6.3 Participationofpre-schoolers 58

6.4 Healthpolicy 58

6.5 Aiminghighforlanguages 59

6.6 Learningsupport 59

6.7 Teachertrainingreform 60

6.8 Studycredits 61

6.9 Rationalenergyuse(REG) 62

Usefuladdresses


Nothingfromthispublicationmaybereproducedordistributedinanyformwithouttheexplicitconsentofthepublisher.

coLoPHontextDepartement Onderwijs en Vorming (Department of Education and Training)Agentschap voor Onderwijsdiensten (AGODI – Agency for Educational Services)Agentschap voor Hoger Onderwijs, Volwassenenonderwijs en Studietoelagen (AHOVOS - Agency for Higher Education, Adult Education and Study Grants)Agentschap voor Onderwijscommunicatie (AOC - Agency for Educational Communication)

FinAL editing And Product coordinAtionAfdeling Informatie en Communicatie - Agentschap voor Onderwijscommunicatie

resPonsibLe editorJo De Ro, Administrator General, Agency for Educational CommunicationKoning Albert II-laan 15 - 1210 Brussels

designBrussels Lof, www.brusselslof.be

iLLustrAtionsJudith Vanistendael

Printed bYHaletra

LegAL registrAtionD/2008/3241/197

1. situating FlandErs

/�

Nothingfromthispublicationmaybereproducedordistributedinanyformwithouttheexplicitconsentofthepublisher.

coLoPHontextDepartement Onderwijs en Vorming (Department of Education and Training)Agentschap voor Onderwijsdiensten (AGODI – Agency for Educational Services)Agentschap voor Hoger Onderwijs, Volwassenenonderwijs en Studietoelagen (AHOVOS - Agency for Higher Education, Adult Education and Study Grants)Agentschap voor Onderwijscommunicatie (AOC - Agency for Educational Communication)

FinAL editing And Product coordinAtionAfdeling Informatie en Communicatie - Agentschap voor Onderwijscommunicatie

resPonsibLe editorJo De Ro, Administrator General, Agency for Educational CommunicationKoning Albert II-laan 15 - 1210 Brussels

designBrussels Lof, www.brusselslof.be

iLLustrAtionsJudith Vanistendael

Printed bYHaletra

LegAL registrAtionD/2008/3241/197


1.1 Flanders in belgium and europe

Flanders lies in the northern part of Belgium and iscentrally located tomajor industrial areas inWesternEurope.Flandershasapopulationofslightlyoversixmillion. The official language is Dutch. The FlemishcapitalofBrussels isalso thecapitalofBelgiumandofEurope.

1.2 Flanders as a federated state

‘Flanders’ encompasses both the Flemish CommunityandtheFlemishRegion.

• The Flemish RegioncoverstheDutchlanguageareawiththeprovincesofWestandEastFlanders,Ant-werp,LimburgandFlemishBrabant.

TheFlemishRegion iscompetent for territorial is-sues.Thesepolicyareasincludeamongothers‘ag-riculture and fisheries’, ‘environment, nature andenergy’and‘workandsocialeconomy’.

• The Flemish Community comprises the inhabitantsoftheDutch-languageareaandtheDutchspeakersinBrussels.

The Flemish Community is competent for person-relatedissues.Thesearepolicyareasinwhichtheservicestothepopulationarecloselyrelatedtothelanguageinwhichtheyhavetobeprovided.Incon-creteterms,thesepolicyareasrelateto‘educationandtraining’,‘welfare,publichealthandthefamily’and‘culture,youth,sportsandmedia’.

Flandersoptedformergingtheparliamentandthegov-ernmentofboth theFlemishRegionand theFlemishCommunityintoasingleFlemishParliamentandasin-gleFlemishGovernment.ThereforeinFlanders,oneandthe same authority exercises both regional and com-munity powers. This simplifies political decision-mak-ing.Frenchspeakersdohaveaseparateregionalandcommunity authority. That is why institutions on theFlemish side are structured differently from those ontheFrench-languageside.Forthisreason,theBelgianfederalmodelissometimesdescribedasanasymmetri-calmodel.

InadditiontotheFlemishCommunityandtheFlemishRegion,federalBelgiumcomprisestwoothercommuni-tiesandregions:

• TheWalloon Region,whichcovers theFrenchandGerman-languageareas,withtheprovincesofWal-loon Brabant, Hainaut, Liège, Namur, and Luxem-bourg.

• The Brussels Capital Region, which covers the bi-lingualareaofBrusselsCapitalwherethetwolan-guages must be treated equally on constitutionalgrounds.

• TheFrench Community,which includesthe inhabit-ants of the French-language area and the French-speakingpopulationintheBrusselsCapitalRegion.

• The German speaking Community, which includesthe approximately 70,000 inhabitants of the Ger-man-languagearea.

The federal (=Belgian)authoritiesare competent forallmattersofnationalimportanceandhavepoweroveranumberofimportantinstrumentsandsectors.Thesepowerscomprise‘finances’,‘homeandforeignaffairs’,‘socialsecurity’and‘unemployment’.

situatingFlanders

THE NETHERLANDS

FRANCE

LuxEmBOuRG

North Sea

GERmANy

Flanders

Brussels

Wallonia

German speaking Community


1.3 Maximum scope, also for education issues

Federalisationaimedatbalancedpackagesofpowers,whichwouldallowforclearandunambiguouspolicies.Ineachpolicyarea,onlyoneauthorityactsasalegis-latorwithmaximumautonomy. Inprinciple, theotherauthoritylevelcannotinterfere.Thefederalpowersexistalongsidewiththepowersofcommunitiesandregions.Thismeansthatlaws(ofthefederalgovernment),parliamentacts(ofthecommuni-tiesandregions)andorders (of theBrusselsRegion)areonequalfootingfromalegalpointofview.

Thus,powers foreducation liewith thecommunities.TheFlemish,FrenchandGermanspeakingCommunityeachhavetheirowneducationsystem.WithintheFlemishGovernment,theMinisterofEduca-tionisresponsibleforalmostallaspectsofeducationpolicy,fromnurserytouniversityeducation.

Nevertheless,thefederalauthoritiesarecompetentforsomeeducationalissues:

• thestartandtheendofcompulsoryeducation;• establishingtheminimumconditionsforobtaining

adiploma;• determiningeducationstaffpensions.

InordertomaketheFlemishauthoritiesmoretranspar-entlyandefficiently,aninnovationprocessreferredtoas ‘BetterAdministrative Policy’ (BBB) was set up in2006.ThemoststrikingchangeisthenewstructureoftheFlemishauthorities.Before,therewasoneMinistryoftheFlemishCommunitywithdifferentDepartments,amongwhichtheEducationDepartment.AsaresultofBBB,Flemishauthoritiesweredividedinto13homoge-neouspolicyareasthatarebuiltonthesameinternalstructure.

TheEducationandTrainingpolicyareaconsistsof:

• TheEducationandTrainingDepartment,competentforpolicypreparation

andfouragenciesthatareresponsibleforpolicyimple-mentation:

• AgentschapvoorOnderwijsdiensten (AgODi-AgencyforEducationalServices)• AgentschapvoorHogerOnderwijs,Volwassenen-

onderwijsenStudietoelagen (AHOVOS-AgencyforHigherEducation,Adult

EducationandStudyGrants)• AgentschapvoorOnderwijscommunicatie (AOC-AgencyforEducationalCommunication)

• Agentschap voor Infrastructuur in het Onderwijs(AGIOn-AgencyforInfrastructureinEducation)

TheFlemishMinistryofEducationandTrainingconsistsoftheabove-mentionedentitieswithoutAGIOn.

Forfurtherinformationonthestructureandoperationoftheeducationaladministration:www.ond.vlaanderen.be/wegwijs

1.4 Flemish education at regional, continental and global level

Flemisheducationpolicypromotesparticipationinin-ternationalprogrammes.Therearethreecategories:

1. FlemishorBelgianprogrammes

Exchanges in the frameworkof thePrince Philip FundarepartoftheBelgianprogramme.Itsupportscollabo-ration and exchanges of pupils, teachers and schoolmanagementteamsofschools inthethreecommuni-tiesofBelgium.

Through the Cross-border Educational Co-operation Project(GROS),secondaryschoolscanco-operatewithschoolsfromneighbouringcountries:theNetherlands,Luxembourg, Germany, France and the United King-dom.

The‘Euroclasses’ programmeallowsFlemishsecondaryschoolstoco-operatewithothersecondaryschoolsinEurope.

2. Bilateralco-operation

Bilateralco-operationisbased,amongotherthings,ontheGENT agreements(since1990),concludedbetweenFlandersandtheNetherlandswiththepurposeofor-ganisingseminarsandpromotingco-operationbetweeneducationalinstitutions.

Furthermore, there are some 40 cultural agreements and co-operation agreementsforalllevelsofeducation.Theycontainarrangementsandagreementsonspecial-istandresearchgrantsaswellasexchangesofexperts,officialsorprofessors.TheMinistryco-operatesindif-ferentprojectswithRussia,MoroccoandSouthAfrica.

situatingFlanders


3. EducationandtrainingprogrammesoftheEuro-peanUnion

Flanderspromotesparticipationinthe“Lifelong Learn-ing Programme” (LLP)oftheEuropeanUnion.1TheLLPfits inwith theBolognaprocess.Thepurposeof thisprojectis:

• tointroduceeasily‘readable’andcomparableaca-demicdegrees;

• topromotethemobilityofstudents,lecturersandresearchers;

• toguaranteethequalityofeducation;• togiveaEuropeandimensiontohighereducation.

TheintegratedLLPconsistsoffoursub-programmes:

• Comeniuscatersfornurseryandprimaryeducation,secondaryeducation,special(nursery,primaryandsecondary) education as well as teacher trainingandin-servicetraining.

• Erasmus supports European activities of highereducation institutions and promotes mobility andexchanges of students, lecturers and members ofstaff.

• Leonardo da Vincifocusesonvocationaleducationand vocational training. It enhances the competi-tivenessoftheEuropeanlabourmarketbyhelpingcitizensacquirenewskills,knowledgeandqualifica-tionsandhavethemrecognisedacrossborders.

• Grundtvig focuses on all forms of non-vocationaladulteducation.

In addition, LLP comprises a transversal programmewithfourkeyactivities:

• policyco-operation• languages• informationandcommunicationtechnologies(ICT)• dissemination(ofinformation)2

Theactivitiesof this transversalprogramme relate tomorethanonemajorprogramme(Comenius,Erasmus,LeonardodaVinci,Grundtvig).AnICTprojectbridgingsecondary and higher education is part of the trans-versalprogrammewhileanICTprojectaimingspecifi-cally at adult education comes under the Grundtvigprogramme.

Finally, the Jean Monnet programme stimulates reflec-tionanddebateontheEuropeanintegrationprocessathighereducationinstitutionsworldwide.

TheimplementationofLLPisthekeytaskofvzw EPOS(European Programmes for Education, Training andCo-operation).Thisnationalagency for Flanders isfi-

nancedbytheFlemishGovernmentandEurope.EPOSalsocoordinatesanumberofotherprogrammessuchasErasmusMundusandErasmusBelgica.

WithinthecontextoftheCouncil of Europe,theFlem-ishMinistryofEducationparticipates in theactivitiesofvariouscommittees.Particularattention isdevotedtothemessuchashumanrights,democracyandtoler-ance.IntheOrganisation for Economic Co-operation and De-velopment (OECD), the Ministry is represented in the“Education Committee” and the “Institution for Man-agement of Higher Education”. Furthermore, the Min-istryparticipatesindifferentprojectsoneducationin-dicators and lifelong learning that are set up by the‘CentreforEducationalResearchandInnovation’.

Flanders also participates in various internationalUNESCO initiatives.ThisUNagencypromotingEduca-tion,SciencesandCultureorganisesinternationaledu-cationconferenceswithparticipants fromallover theworld.From2005to2014,theUnitedNationsdecadeofEducationforSustainableDevelopmentisrunning.

1 On15November2006,theEuropeanCommissiondecidedtocontinueexistingSocratesandLeonardodaVinciprogrammesforthe2007-2013periodundertheumbrellathe“LifelongLearningProgramme”.

2 ThekeyobjectiveistocreateaframeworkforeffectiveexploitationoftheresultsoftheLLPprojectandofpreviousgenerationsofprogrammesatsectoral,regional,nationalandEuropeanlevel.

situatingFlanders


250 000

200 000

150 000

100 000

150 000

0

adult education part time artseducation

GRAPH2: School population in adult education and part-time arts education (2006-2007 school year)

300 000 301.594

33.46326.085

165.157

21.118

adult basic education1

continuing education (secondary)2

continuing education (higher)

BIS (Supervised Individual Study)3

part-time arts education4

500 000

400 000

300 000

200 000

100 000

0

nursery andprimary education1

secondaryeducation1

GRAPH1: School population in full-time education per level of education (2006-2007 school year)

235.251

413.951457.527

nursery education

primary education

secondary education

education in colleges of higher education

university education

highereducation2

102.477

60.866

1 Numberofpupilsinmainstreamandspecialeducation.2 Number of students enrolled under a diploma contract in an initial training

programme.

1 2006-2007yearofoperation.2 Period of reference 1/2/2006-31/1/2007. The number of single enrolments in

a training course is counted: someone who enrols twice or more in the sametrainingcourseandinthesamesystemduringthesamereferenceperiod,isonlycountedonce.Whenheenrolstwice(ormore)inthesametrainingprogramme,butinadifferentsystem(onceinalinearprogramme,theothertimeinamodularprogramme), thenhe iscountedtwice.Whenheenrols intwodifferent trainingprogrammes –whether or not in the same area of study-, then he is countedtwice.

3 2006yearofoperation.4 Thecountingisbasedonthenumberofpupilseligibleforfunding(1February).

Someonewhofollowsmorethanonecourseofstudyiscountedmorethanonce.

situatingFlanders

1.5 A small region with a large school population

Thegraphsbelowprovideinformationabouttheschoolpopulationineverylevelofeducationoffull-timeedu-cation as well as of part-time arts education and ofadulteducation.

In the young Flemish adults population group (ages25to34),84%haveatleastadiplomaorcertificateofsecondaryeducation.Thismeansthat,in2006,theFlemishRegionscoressignificantlyhigherthantheav-erage OECD country, where 77 % of this age groupcompleted secondary education. Nevertheless, toomany youngpeople still finish compulsory educationwithoutanycertificateordiploma.Attemptsarebeingmadeatchanging this trendthroughthemodularisa-tionproject(see5.2).

10/ Education in FlandErs situatingFlanders

2. gEnEral principlEs

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1�/ Education in FlandErs

2.1 compulsory education for all children from six to eighteen

UndertheBelgianConstitution,everychildhasarighttoeducation.Inordertoguaranteethisrighttoeducation,compulsory educationwasintroduced.Compulsoryeducationstartson1Septemberoftheyearinwhichachildreachestheageof6,andlasts12fullschool years.A pupil has to comply with compulsoryeducationuntiltheageoffifteenorsixteen.Afterwardsonlypart-timecompulsoryeducationisapplicable(=acombination of part-time learning and working). How-ever, most young people continue to attend full-timesecondaryeducation.Compulsoryeducationendsat theeighteenthbirthdayor on June 30 of the calendar year inwhichtheyoungsterreachestheageof 18. If a pupil stops going toschool on his 18th anniversaryanddoesnotfinishthecurrentschool year, he3 does not havea right to a certificate or diplomawhich is awarded upon completingthecourse.Foryoungpeoplewhoobtain adiplomaofsecondary educa-tionbeforetheageof 18, compulsoryeducationstopsatthatmoment.Inprinciple,allschoolsare mixed as a school is notallowedtorefusepupilsonthegroundsofgender.

All children who reside in Belgiumare subject to compulsory education.Thus,alsochildrenofforeignnationalityaresubjecttocompulsoryeducation.Fromthesixtiethdayoftheirregistrationbythelocalauthorities,thesechildrenmustbeenrolledinaschoolandattendclassesregularly. Schools arenot allowed torefusepupilswithoutaresidenceper-mit.Pupilswhoendtheirtrainingsuc-cessfully,obtainadiploma.Inordertoguaranteetherighttoeduca-tion, the Flemish Government made agree-mentswith the FederalGovernment.A federalcircular letter confirms that thepolicearenotallowedtopickupschool-agechildrenofillegalmigrantsduringschoolhours.

InBelgium,compulsoryeducationdoesnotmeancom-pulsory school attendance. It means that children do

generalprinciples

3 Forthesakeofreadability,onlythemaleformofaddressisusedinthisbrochure.

Education in FlandErs /1� generalprinciples

notnecessarilyhavetogotoschooltolearn.Parentsmayoptforhome educationandmustinformtheFlem-ishMinistryofEducationandTraining.Theauthoritiescheckwhetherallschool-agepupilsareactuallycom-plyingwithcompulsoryeducation.Iftheirchildrenarenotcomplying,parentsmaybepunishedbycourt. Inpractice,thereareveryfewparentswhooptforhomeeducation.Achildwithspecialeducationalneedswhoisunablegotoschool,canbehome-educated.TheprovincialAdvi-sory Commission on Special Education(CABO)mustgiveitsconsent.CABOmayalsodecidetoexemptthepupilfrom compulsory education. This only happens if thechildissoseverelyphysicallyand/orintellectuallydisa-bledastobepermanentlyunabletoattendeducation.

2.2 control of education costs until the end of compulsory education

TheBelgianConstitutionalsoprovides thataccess toeducationisfree of chargeuptotheendofcompulsoryeducation.Primaryandsecondaryschoolsthatarefi-nancedorfundedbythegovernmentarethereforenotallowedtochargeanenrolmentfee.AlthoughFlemishnursery education does not come under compulsoryeducation,accesstoitisalsofreeofcharge.

• In nursery and primary education, parents do nothavetopayforschoolmaterialsandactivitieswhicharevitaltopursuingdevelopmentalobjectivesandtoachievingattainmenttargets.

From1September2008onwards,atwofoldsystemofmaximumfeesreferredtoas‘doublemaximuminvoice’innurseryandprimaryeducationisapplicable:

1.A strict maximum invoice for activities such astheatre visits, sports activities, one-day schooltrips,…Alsomaterialschildrenhavetopurchasethrough theschool,have tobepaidunder thisinvoice(e.g.acompulsorymagazinesubscription)This‘strictmaximuminvoice’amountsto20euroforapre-schoolerandto60euroforapupilinprimary education per school year.That is howcostsarekeptdownforallparents.

2.‘The less strict maximum invoice’ corresponds

with fees chargeable for several-day journeys,takingplacewhollyorpartlyoutsideschoolhours(e.g. journeys to theseaside, countryside).Thismaximum invoiceamounts to0euro for apre-schoolerandto360euroforthewholedurationofprimaryeducation.

• In secondary education, education fully free ofchargedoesnotexist.Certainfeesmustbelegallycharged for certain educational activities and forteachingaids.Furthermore,theyhavetobeeffec-tive,demonstrableandjustifiablecosts inpropor-tiontothecharacteristicsofthetargetgroupinsec-ondaryeducation.Thelistofcharges,withpossiblederogationsfordeprivedfamiliesmustbelaiddowninschoolregulations.Parentsandpupilshavetheirsayinthesefeesinadvanceintheschoolcouncil.

Forfurtherinformationonschoolfees:www.ond.vlaanderen.be/schoolkosten

In secondary education, there is a system of pupilgrantsforparentswithalowincome.Inhighereduca-tion,thereisastudentgrantssystem.Inordertobeeli-gibleforapupil/studentgrant,thepupil/studentmustcomplywiththenationalityrequirementandanumberofeducationalandfinancialconditions.Anapplicationforaschool/studentgrantmustbesubmittedbyJune30oftheschooloracademicyearatthelatest.From the 2008-2009 school year onwards, there arealsopupilgrantsinnurseryandprimaryeducation(see6.1).


2.3 Freedom of education

Freedomof education is a constitutional right inBel-gium. Every natural or legal person has the right toorganise education and establish institutions for thispurpose.Theauthoritiesarenotallowedtotakepreven-tivemeasuresagainsttheestablishmentoffreeschools.Under the constitution, the authorities are obliged toprovideneutraleducation.

The‘governing body’(orschoolboard)isakeyconceptinFlemisheducation.Thegoverningbodyisresponsibleforoneormoreschoolsandiscomparabletoaboardof directors in a company. The governing body takestheshapeofanauthority,anaturalpersonoralegalperson/legalpersons.Governing bodies enjoy considerable autonomy. Theyareentirelyfreeinchoosingteachingmethodsandareallowedtobasetheireducationonacertainphilosophyoreducationalview.Theycanalsodeterminetheirowncurriculumandtimetablesaswellasappointtheirownstaff.However,schoolsthatwantgovernmentrecogni-tionorfundingmustmeettheattainmenttargets.Inad-dition,schoolsmusthavesufficientteachingmaterialsandbeestablishedinhabitablebuildingsthatcomplywithsafetyprovisionsandhygienestandards.

Theconstitutionalsoguaranteestheparents’freedomofchoice.Parentsandchildrenmusthaveaccesstoaschooloftheirchoicewithinareasonabledistancefromtheirhome.

2.4 equal opportunities in education

The Act on equal opportunities in education containsthreemajorprovisions:

• The right to enrolment:Eachpupilhastherighttoenrolintheschoolofhis/her(parents’)choice.Onlyinastrictlylimitednumberofcases,aschoolcanrefuseanenrolmentorreferanewlyenrolledpupiltoanotherschool.

• The establishment of local consultation platformswithathreefoldtask:Localconsultationplatformsensuretherightofenrolment,actasanintermediaryincaseofconflictsandco-operateinimplementingalocalpolicyonequalopportunitiesineducation.

Formoreinformation:www.lop.be

• Extra support for additional needs provision inschools:Thesupportisaimedatschoolsthathavearatherlargenumberofpupilswhomeetcertainso-cio-economicindicators.Thisextrasupportconsistsofadditionalteachingperiodsoradditionalteach-inghoursperteacher.

Apupilmeetingatleastoneoutoffiveequalopportu-nitiesindicatorsisaGOK-pupil.Theschoolmayobtainextrafundsforthesepupils.Fordetailedinformationonregulationsforequalopportunitiesineducation:www.ond.vlaanderen.be/GOK

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Education in FlandErs /1�

2.5 brussels Policy on educational priorities

As to content, the Brussels Policy on educational pri-orities (VBB) isalso linkedto theprinciplesofequalopportunitiesineducation,butitisgearedtowardsthespecific situation in Brussels education. This projectshowsteachersandschoolshowtohandlepupilswithlearning and developmental delays in a professionalway. In addition, the Brussels Policy on educationalpriorities also optimizes co-operation and co-ordina-tionwithvariouseducationactorsandstrengthenstheschools’coordinatingcapacity.

Concretely, four working areas are promoted in eachschool:

• languageproficiencyeducation;• copingwith diversity (intercultural education) and

differentiation;• co-operationwithparents;• co-operation and co-ordination with other educa-

tionstakeholders.

inordertoattainthis,theVBB,anon-profitorganisa-tion, uses means and methods that are directed to-wards the school-based situation of school manage-ment,teachersandstaff.

2.6 educational networks

An educational network is a representative associa-tionofgoverningbodiesandoftentakesoversomeoftheresponsibilitiesofgoverningbodies.Forexample,theydrawuptheirowncurriculumandtimetables.Thismeansthatthegoverningbodiesconcernedsurrendersomeoftheirautonomytothenetworks.

Therearethreeeducationalnetworks:

• GO! educationoftheFlemishCommunityispubliclyruneducationorganisedbythepublicbodycalled‘hetGO!onderwijsvandeVlaamseGemeenschap’actingundertheauthorityoftheFlemishCommu-nity.Under theconstitution, thisGO!education isrequiredtobeneutral.Indeed,thereligious,philo-sophicalor ideological convictionsofparentsandpupilsmustberespected.

• Publicly funded, publicly run education(OGO)com-prisesmunicipaleducation(organisedbylocalau-thorities)aswellasprovincialeducation(organisedbyprovincialauthorities).Thegoverningbodiesofthiseducationnetworkareunitedintwoumbrellaorganisations: the ‘Onderwijssecretariaat van deStedenengemeentenvandeVlaamseGemeensc-hap’(OVSG-EducationalSecretariatoftheAssocia-tionofFlemishCitiesandMunicipalities),and the‘Provinciaal Onderwijs Vlaanderen’ (POV - FlemishProvincialEducation).

• The publicly funded, privately run schools(VGO)de-liver education organised by a private person orprivate organisation. The governing body is oftena non-profit-making organisation (vzw). Privatelyruneducationmainlyconsistsof catholicschools.They are associated in the umbrella body called‘Vlaams Secretariaat van het Katholiek Onderwijs’(VSKO-FlemishSecretariatforCatholicEducation).Furthermore, therearealsoprotestant, Jewish,or-thodox,Islamic,...schools.Inadditiontothesede-nominationalschools,therearealsoschools,whichhavenoaffiliationwithaparticularreligion.Exam-plesofsuchschoolsareFreinetschools,MontessorischoolsorSteinerschools,whichadoptparticulareducationalmethodsandarealsoknownas‘meth-odschools’.

generalprinciples


Asmallnumberofschools inFlandersarenot recog-nisedby thegovernment.These are so-called private schools.Theydonotreceivefinancialsupportfromthegovernment.

Educationthatisorganisedforandbythegovernment(GO! educationand local andprovincial education) isknownaspublicly run education.Recognisededucationfoundedonprivateinitiativeiscalledprivately run edu-cation.

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Thetablebelowshowsthedistributionofpupilsacrossthe different educational networks. The majority ofFlemish pupils attend publicly funded (privately run)education.

DIAGRAM1:Distributionofpupilsacrossthenetworksinprimaryandsecondaryeducation(2006-2007schoolyear).

subsidisedprivatelyruneducation:68,28%subsidisedpubliclyruneducation:16,46%GO!(communityeducation):15,27%

2.7 Financial support to education

Strictly speaking, the Flemish education budget ex-pressedintermsofavailableoperatingappropriationsamountedto8.86billionEURin2007.Thisaccountsfor40%ofthetotalFlemishbudgetarymeansandrepre-sentsanaveragenominalincreaseof3,75%peryearsince1995.The2007budgetincreasedby4.4%com-paredto2006.GO! education organised by the Flemish Communityreceives an annual allocation. In addition, the Flem-ishCommunityfundsprovinces,(associationsof )localauthorities, andother legal persons inpublic law, orprivatepersonswhoorganiseeducationinaccordancewithlegalstandards.

The Flemish Community pays for staffing costs. Anumberoffinancingorfundingsystemsareprovidingfinancialmeanstothegoverningbodiesfortheopera-tionofschoolsandboardingschools.4

DIAGRAM2: Educationbudgetper level of education(2007)

Nurseryandprimaryeducation:31,99%Secondaryeducation:40,66%Educationprovidedbycollegesofhighereducation:7,61%Universityeducation:9,14%Adulteducationandpart-timeartseducation:5,27%Regardlessoflevelsofeducation:5,32%

DIAGRAM3:Educationbudgetforeverycategoryofexpenditure(2007)

Salaries:68,36%Operation:9,07%Tertiaryeducation:16,62%Investments:2,86%Others:3,09%

Fromthe2008-2009schoolyearonwards,theoperat-ingbudgetfornursery,primaryandsecondaryschoolsisdivideddifferently.Thenewsystemisbasedontwoimportantpillars:

• theeducationalnetworksaretreatedonequalfoot-ing;

• financingispartlybasedonthesocialprofileoftheschoolpopulation.

According toanofficial study,publicly fundededuca-tion receives76%of themeansofGO!education. Inrecentyears,thisproportionwassignificantlychangedbyanumberofmeasures.Tothisend,extrameansfortheoperatingbudgetandsupportwereallocatedan-nuallytopubliclyfundededucation.Thisnewfinancingsystemisintendedtocompletelyeliminatethedepend-enceofthenetworks,notwithstandinga7,5%objectivedisparity.5This harmonisation is carried through bothin mainstream and in special primary and secondaryeducation.

Thesecondpillarofthenewfinancingsystem,i.e.fi-nancingaccording to the socialprofile (=pupil char-acteristics), only applies to mainstream nursery, pri-mary and secondary education. Research led to theconclusionthat4characteristicscanverywellpredictforwhichpupils schoolshave tomakeadditional ef-fortsandthusforwhichschoolsgetadditionalfunding.Thesecharacteristicsare:

• theeducationalleveloftheparents;• thehomelanguage;• thefamilyincome;• theneighbourhoodwherechildrenlive.

4 GO!isfinanced;OGOandVGOarefundedbytheFlemishCommunity.5 Inordertoguaranteeafreechoiceofschool,GO!getsanextra3%ofoperatingmeansperpupilinordertocoverthecosts.Moreover,GO!islegallyrequiredtoprovide

severalphilosophicalsubjectmattersandreceivesanextra4.5%tocoverthecostsincurredforthesesubjectmatters.

generalprinciples


Inordertoimplementthenewfinancingsystem,theop-eratingbudgetforcompulsoryeducationisincreasedtomorethan800millioneurofromthe2008-2009schoolyear onwards. For nursery andprimary education, anincreaseof85millioneuroisprovidedandsecondaryeducation gets an additional operating budget of 40millioneuro.

2.8 Autonomy

Flemishpolicymakerstriedtogiveanewimpetustoeducation by placing greater responsibility on educa-tion providers and by making pupils, students andparentsaccountableaswell,asfaraspossible.Inthemeantime,thisprocessoflocalaccountabilityhasbeenintroducedateverylevelofeducation.

• TheFlemishParliamentActon nursery and primary educationof25February1997allowsschoolboardstodeterminetheirowncurriculum,actionplansandschool development plans. The schools are alsofree to choose their own teaching methods andeducationalmethods.However,schoolsarestillre-quiredtopursuedevelopmentalobjectives,achieveattainmenttargetsandcomplywithstrictconditionson funding, allowances for salaries, theoperatingbudgetandinvestments.

• ThespecialFlemishParliamentActof1988onsec-ondary community education sets out that localcouncils aregranteddecision-makingpowerswithregard to staffing policy, financial and materialspolicies. In 1989, the organisation of communityeducationwasremovedfromthedirectauthorityofgovernmentandautonomousadministrativebodiestookover.In1998schoolsandschoolsgroupswereagainassignedmoreresponsibilities.

• TheFlemishActonuniversityeducationof12June1991assignedalargedegreeofautonomytouniver-sities.UnderthisAct,thegovernmentprovidesthefundsrequired.Universitiesareresponsibleforthewaytheyusethosefunds.Withregardtostaffingpolicy,thegovernmentonlydeterminestheframe-work.Alsocurriculumcontent is theresponsibilityofeachuniversity.

• The1994Actoncollegesofhighereducationlaysdownthatcollegesofhighereducationarerespon-sible for theannual lump-sumgrantsallocated tothem. The government expects a result-orientedmanagement from the colleges of higher educa-tion:

> thedevelopmentofavision;> thedevelopmentofalong-termstrategy;> theprovisionofclearoperationaldirectives;> thedevelopmentofthecurricula.

generalprinciples


2.9 the legal position of staff

Thelegalpositionofstaffguaranteestheirlegalsecurityandprovidesacertaindegreeofjobsecurity.Itcontainsthebasicregulationsonrecruitment,appointment,se-lection,promotionanddiscipline.TheactsonthelegalpositionofstaffinpubliclyfundededucationandGO!educationapplytostaffinnursery,primary,secondaryandspecialeducation,part-timeartseducation,adulteducation, pupil guidance centres (CLBs) and board-ingschools.Aseparatelegalpositionwasapprovedforstaffatcollegesofhighereducationanduniversities.

Amemberofstaffcangetapermanentappointmentun-dercertainconditions.Apermanent appointment guar-antees job and salary security and gives access to awiderangeofleavearrangements,paidsickleaveandastatepension.Thispensionismoreadvantageousthanapensionundertheprivatesystembecauseitisseenasapostponedsalary.

Flemishschoolshaverelativelylimitedautonomyinim-plementing their ownpersonnelpolicy.However, theyare encouraged to conduct an HRM policy based onsupervision,encouragementandmonitoring.Anillustra-tionofthispolicyistheintroductionofjobdescriptionsandevaluationsandtheirimpactontheteachers’per-ceptionoftheirroleandindividualperformance.Thusjobs in nursery and primary education are no longerexclusively expressed in terms of teaching times, butdescribetheoverallschool-basedduties.

Flandersappliesthegeneralprincipleofstaffparticipa-tion:

• In educational establishments under public law,there is union bargaining in accordance with dia-loguerulesbetweenthegovernmentanditsstaff.

• Ineducational establishments under private law,ap-propriate participation rules apply. School boardsare required to discuss in advance decisions thataffectstaff.

In both systems, staff representatives are protectedfromdismissalandaregivenfacilitiestoperformtheirjob autonomously. Participation arrangements wereadaptedtotheupscalingofinstitutions.

AtFlemishlevel,representativetradeunionsenterintodialoguewiththeFlemishGovernmentonalllegislativeinitiativesthataffectstaff.Thesenegotiationsthusarenot limited to employment conditions and the appli-cable collective bargaining agreements resulting fromthem.

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�0/ Education in FlandErs

2.10 organisation of the school and academic year

Fornursery,primaryandsecondaryeducation,theschoolyearstartson1Septemberandendstheoreticallyon31August. However, because of the summer holidays (1July up to and including 31August), the school yearendson30Juneinpractice.Inprimary education,pupilshavetoattendeachweek28or29teachingtimesof50minutesforeducationalanddevelopmentalactivities.LessonsareevenlyspreadoverfivedaysfromMondaytoFriday.Wednesdayafter-noonisfree.Theminimumnumberof teachingperiods in full-time secondary educationamountsto28hours.Inpart-time secondary educationthereare15teachingperiodsperweek.There is also amaximum level of financingbythe government. The education provider may exceedthis maximum number of periods if it pays for themitself.Inpracticethisseldomlyhappens.Themaximuminfull-timesecondaryeducationvariesbetween32and36periodsanddependsonthetypeofeducationandthe stage. Nursing training courses are an exceptionandalwayscomprise36periodsperweek.Inpart-timeeducation, themaximumamounts to15periods, thusequallingtheminimumnumberofperiods.Inallcases,ateachingperiodlasts50minutes.In full-time secondary education, courses are spreadoverninehalfcoursedaysfromMondaytoFriday.Theschool itselfdefineswhenthepupilsaregivenahalfdayoff. Inpart-timesecondaryeducation,coursesarespreadoverfourhalfcoursedays.Coursesstartat8amattheearliestandendbetween3pmand5pm.Thereisalwaysalunchbreakofatleast50minutes.

As isthecasewithprimaryandsecondaryeducation,theschoolyear inadult education centresstartson1Septemberandendson31August,takingintoaccountthesummerholidayswhichrunfrom1Julyto31August.Classesmaytakeplaceonalldaysoftheweek.Inadulteducationcentres,ateachingperiodis50minutes.

Theorethically,thecentres for adult basic educationdonothavetorespectthedivisionofthenormalschoolyearandtheholidayperiodsofprimaryandsecondaryeducationandofadulteducationcentres.Nevertheless,inpractice,theyorganisetheirprovisioninthisway.Inadultbasiceducation,ateachingperiodlasts60min-utes.

Inadulteducation,thenumberofteachingperiodsperweekdependsontheprovision,thetrainingprogrammechosenandtheneedsofthecourseparticipant.Thereisaprovisionofintensivecoursesof9to12hoursperweekandaprovision that is less intensiveof3 to6

hoursperweek.Courseparticipantsinsecondchanceeducation–thisissecondaryadulteducationfocusingon gaining a secondary education diploma (see 3.6)–followfull-timeeducation.Thenumberofclassesat-tendedbythecourseparticipant,variesfromonetrain-ingprogrammetoanother.Therearebothshorterandlongertrainingcoursesandacourseparticipantisalsofree to take one or more modules of a training pro-gramme.

Inhigher education,theacademicyearstartsbetween1Septemberand1October.Theacademicyearendsonthedaybeforethestartofthenextacademicyear.Collegesof higher educationanduniversities autono-mouslydecideon the actual organisationof the aca-demicyear,e.g.ontheorganisationofeducationandotherstudyactivities,examinationproceduresandholi-daysperiodsforstudents.Sincethe2005-2006academicyear,thedivisionofaca-demicstudiesintoyearsofstudyhasbeenabandonedasaresultoftheflexibilisationofhighereducation(see3.4).Thestudentmaynowenrolforoneormoreindi-vidualcoursecomponents.Hechoosesforthealreadyexistingpathwayof60creditsorforaflexiblecombina-tionofcoursecomponents6(=lessthan60creditsperacademicyear).Accordingtothetimethestudentcandevote tohisstudy,hecan largelydecidehimselfonthe workload of his study programme. Moreover thisfacilitatesthecombinationofworkandstudy.

6 Eachcoursecomponentcomprisesminimum3credits.Onecreditcorrespondswith25to30hoursofeducationandotherstudyactivities.

generalprinciples

Education in FlandErs /�1

2.11 Participation

Bothatcentralandatlocallevel,thegovernmentpro-motesparticipationofandintheworldofeducation.

2.11.1 Central participation structures

TheFlemish Education Council (VlaamseOnderwijsraad-VLOR)hasbeenoperatingat thecentral levelsince1991.IntheActonparticipationatschoolandtheFlem-ishEducationCouncil of 2April 2004, theVLORwastransformedintothestrategicadvisorycouncilfortheEducationandTrainingpolicyarea.IntheVLOR,alledu-cationstakeholdersconsultoneanotheroneducationandtrainingpolicy.Onthebasisofthoseconsultations,theVLORgivesadvicetotheFlemishMinisterofEduca-tionandTrainingandtotheFlemishParliament.

TheVLORconsistsofonegeneralcouncilandfoursub-councils,oneforeachlevelofeducation:

• thenurseryandprimaryeducationcouncil;• thesecondaryeducationcouncil;• thelifelongandlifewidelearningcouncil;• thehighereducationcouncil.

Withinthesecouncils,committeesandworkinggroupscanbeestablishedforspecificissuesortypesandsec-torsofeducation.

TheVLORiscomposedofrepresentativesof:

• school boards from the various educational net-works;

• boardsoftrainingcentres;• schoolmanagementteams;• staff;• pupils,students,courseparticipants;• parents;• pupilguidancecentres;• socio-culturalandsocio-economicorganisations;• expertsbyexperienceineducation.

TheVLORhasadvisory and consultativepowers.Thepolicyagreementbetween theMinisterand theVLORdetermineshowtheVLORcanassumeothertasks.

TheMinister is required toask theVLOR foradviceonpolicymemorandumsandletters,whichhesubmitstotheFlemishParliament.ThisobligationalsoappliestodraftActsanddraftdecreesontemporaryeducationprojects.TheVLORmayalsogiveadviceonitsowninitiative.

At the request of the Minister, theVLOR may, in ad-ditiontoitsadvisorytask,actasaconsultativebodybetweenthedifferentsectionsofeducation.

TheFlemish Interuniversity Council (VlaamseInteruniver-sitaireRaad-VLIR)advisesandpresentsproposalstotheMinisterwithregardtouniversityeducation.TheVLIRcarriesoutresearchitselforcontractsoutresearch.Maximumtworepresentativesofeachuniversitysitonthiscouncil.

The Flemish Council for Non-University Higher Educa-tion (VlaamseHogescholenraad -VLHORA)hasa taskanalogoustothatoftheVLIRbutwascreatedforthecollegesofhighereducation.

In the Flemish Negotiation Committee (VlaamsOnder-handelingscomité - VOC), delegations of the FlemishGovernment (through the Minister of Education), ofpersonnel(throughtradeunions)andexecutiveboards(jointproposalofVLIRandVLHORA)dealwithallnewstaffregulationsforhighereducation.2.11.2 Local participation structures

Education institutions innursery, primary and second-ary educationhavearatherhighdegreeofautonomyandresponsibility.Thatiswhystronglocalparticipa-tionstructuresarenecessary.

Staffmembersinnursery,primaryorsecondaryschools,pupilsinnursery,primaryschoolsandparentsofchil-dren in nursery, primary and secondary schools canrespectively ask for the establishment of respectivelyan educational council, a pupil council and a parentcouncil.SincetheActonparticipationof2April2004,thesameruleshavebeenapplicabletoallnursery,pri-maryandsecondaryschools foreducationalcouncils,parent councils and pupil councils, regardless of theeducationalnetwork.

• Aneducational council isobligatoryifatleast10%ofthestaffmembersaskforit.

• Aparent councilisobligatoryifatleast10%oftheparentsaskforit.

• Inprimary education,apupil councilmustbeestab-lishedifatleast10%oftheregularpupilsofthe11to13agegroupaskforit.

• Ina secondary school,apupil councilisobligatoryinprinciple.

These three councils have largeadvisorypowers andarecomposedviaelections.

Thedifferentpartiesinvolvedintheschoolalsooftenorganiseseparateinformalcommittees.Inmostnursery,primaryand secondary schools,par-entssetupaparents’ association.Atpresent, thesecommitteesdiffer largelyasregardsvision,philosophy,approachandactivities.

generalprinciples

��/ Education in FlandErs

In order to strengthen the participation of parents inschoolpolicy,thegovernmentfundsanumberofum-brellaparents’associations.

For GO! education, the school council regulates theparticipationofalleducationstakeholders.Thisschoolcouncilhasageneralrightto informationandawell-definedadvisoryandconsultativecompetence.

Theschoolcouncilcomprises:

• threemembersdirectlyelectedbytheparents;• twomembers co-opted from the local social, eco-

nomicandculturalsectors;• threemembersdirectlyelectedbyandamong the

staff.

Thehead teacherattends themeetingsof theschoolcouncil and has an advisory vote. For every schoolsgroup,there isaboardofdirectors inGO!education,inwhichparents,staff,schoolmanagementteams,andlocalsocial,economicandculturalsectorsarealsorep-resented.Theyco-decideonmaterialandfinancialman-agementofeducationandstaff.

For publicly funded education also, consultation andparticipationisorganisedviaaschool council.

Thiscounciliscomposedofanequalnumberofrepre-sentatives7of:

• parents;• subsidisedstaffmembersoftheschoolsinvolved;• representativesofthelocalcommunityco-optedby

theabove-mentionedgroups;• pupils(onlyinsecondaryeducation).

It is also possible to delegate representatives of theeducationalcouncil,thepupilcouncilorparentcounciltotheschoolcouncil.Ifthesethreecouncilsdonotap-pointanyrepresentativestotheschoolcouncilorifoneofthosecouncilsdoesnotexist,theschoolcouncilisformedthroughelections.

Theschoolcouncilinpubliclyfundededucationhas:

• ageneralrighttoinformation;• broadadvisorypowers;• a clearly defined power for consulting on school

policy;• acommunicationdutytowardsstaff,pupilsandpar-

entsaboutthewayinwhichtheyusetheirpowers.

Theheadteacherislawfullyentitledtoattendthemeet-ings of the school council and has an advisory vote.Consultationstakeplaceinajointmeetingofthegov-

erningbodyandtheschoolcouncil.Forhigher education, a student counciloperatesineachuniversity,associationandcollegeofhighereducation.Theboardof the institutionmustdeliberatewith thestudentcouncilonanumberofissues.Onotherissues,theboardisonlyrequiredtoconsultthestudentcoun-cil.Theobligationtodeliberateortoconsultdoesnotapplyifthecompetentboardcountsatleast10%stu-dents.Thisobligationisneitherapplicableiflessthan10%ofthetotalnumberofstudentsparticipatedintheelections.Inthiscase,therighttovoteofthestudentsintheboardofdirectorsalsolapses.Staffparticipation is applieddifferently inuniversitiesandcollegesforhighereducation.Inprinciple,therearenegotiating committees in all colleges of higher edu-cationat the levelof the collegeofhighereducation(HOC)aswellasatthelevelofthedepartment(DOC).Institutions under public law have boards on whichmostlyelectedrepresentativesofstaffmembershaveaseat.Privatelyruninstitutionshaveafreechoiceinthismatter.However,intheprivatelyruncollegesofhighereducationthereisanacademiccouncilwhichactsasaparticipationbodyofstaffandstudents.Intheprivatelyrununiversities,thereisaworkscouncilwhichactsasaparticipationbodyofstaffandstudents.

7 Threetofiverepresentatives..

generalprinciples

3. lEvEls oF Education

/��

Education in FlandErs /��

(1)Allstudentswhohavesuccessfullypassedthesecondyearofthe3rdstageorpassedanentrytest,haveaccesstothe4thstageofvocationaleducation.(2)Modulareducationisnotdividedintostagesandyearsofstudyandthusisnotrepresentedinthediagram.(3)Theformertrainingprogrammesofonecycleprovidedbycollegesofhighereducationaretransformedintoprofessionalbachelorcoursesfromthe2004-2005academicyearonwards.(4)Thetwo-cycletrainingcoursesofthecollegesofhighereducationandacademictrainingcoursesoftheuniversitiesaretransformedintoacademicbachelorandmastercoursesfromthe2004-2005academicyearonwards.Thesetrainingcoursesaretransformedfromanatleasttwo-yearcandidate’scourseandanatleasttwo-yearlicentiatecourseintoathree-yearacademicbachelorandanatleastone-yearmastercourse.Candidatedegreesarenotconsideredequaltobachelordegrees.

Academic bachelor

bachelor following bachelor

Master following master

doctor (universities only)

1ste graad

2de graad

3de graad deeltijds

4de graad

years

21

21

43 general Art technical Vocational

general Art technical Vocational

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coLLeges oF HigHereducAtion onLY (3)

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3.1 structure of education 7

43

PriMArY educAtion

nurserY educAtion

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3st stage

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7 Inadditiontothelevelsofeducationincludedinthediagram,therearealsopart-timeartseducationandadulteducation.

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��/ Education in FlandErs levelsofeducation:nurseryandprimaryeducation

3.2 nursery and Primary education

‘Basisonderwijs’ comprises both nursery and primaryeducation.Thereismainstream and special nursery and primary education.

3.2.1 Mainstream nursery and primary education

Nurseryeducationisavailableforchildrenfrom2,5to6years.Betweentheagesof2,5and3years,childrencanstartmainstream nursery educationat7times:onthefirstschooldayaftereachholidayperiodandthefirstschooldayinFebruary.Oncetheyoungchildhasreachedtheageof3,hecanstartschoolatanytimeintheschoolyear.Schoolstartdatesdon’tapplytospecialnurseryeduca-tion.In the 2006-2007 school year, 233.344 pre-schoolerswere enrolled in mainstream nursery education. Pub-liclyfunded,privatelyruneducationaccountsforalmost63,12%ofallpre-schoolers.

Childrenwhoarenotyetreadytomoveuptoprimaryeducationat theageof6 canspendanother year innurseryeducation.Thisappliestomainstreamnurseryeducation. Inspecialnurseryeducation, thetransitiontoprimaryeducationcanbepostponedfor2years.

Mainstream primary educationisaimedatchildrenfrom6to12andcomprises6consecutiveyearsofstudy.Achildusuallystartsprimaryeducationat theageof6andthuswhenheissubjecttocompulsoryeducation.Thisisalsotheageatwhichthefewchildrenwhodidnotattendnurseryeducation, (normally)startprimaryschool.Achildspendsatminimumfourandatmaximumeightyearsinmainstreamprimaryeducation.Inexceptionalcases,theauthoritiescanallowaderogationfromtheminimumduration.

Inthe2006-2007schoolyear,thenumberofpupilsinmainstream primary education was 387.157. Publiclyfunded, privately run education accounts for almost63,62%ofthepupils.

3.2.2 Special nursery and primary education

Specialnurseryandprimaryeducationisaimedatchil-drenwhoneedspecialhelp,temporarilyorpermanent-ly.Thismaybeduetothechildren’sphysicalormentaldisability, serious behavioural or emotional problems,orseriouslearningdifficulties.


There are eight types of special nursery and special pri-mary education,tailoredtotheeducationalanddevel-opmentalneedsofaparticulargroupofchildren:

• type1:childrenwithamildmentaldisability• type2:childrenwithamoderateorseveremental

disability• type3:childrenwithseriousemotionaland/orbe-

haviouralproblems• type4:childrenwithaphysicaldisability• type5:childrenadmittedtohospitalorinquaran-

tineformedicalreasons• type6:visuallyimpairedchildren• type7:childrenwithahearingimpairment• type8:childrenwithseriouslearningdifficulties

Aschoolforspecialnurseryandprimaryeducationcanorganiseoneormoreofthesetypesofeducation.Type1andtype8arenotorganisedinspecialnurseryedu-cation.Theauthoritiesarecurrentlypreparinganeducationalreformforthepurposeofimprovingtailorededucation:learning support.Itisbeingdevelopedfornursery,pri-maryandsecondaryeducation.Learningsupportgivesaclearerdescriptionoftheprovisioninmainstreamandspecialeducationandbettermatchestheprovisiontotheindividualneedsofeverychild(see6.6.).

In the 2006-2007 school year, there were 1.907 pre-schoolers inspecial nursery education.0,81%ofallpre-schoolers (mainstream and special education to-gether)areinspecialeducation.

Special primary educationlastssevenyears.Normally,the transition from special primary education to sec-ondaryeducation takesplaceat theageof13anda

child can spend maximum 9 years in special primaryeducation.Childrenwhoreachtheageof15before1Januaryof thecurrentschoolyearcannotcontinue inprimaryeducationanylonger.Pupilnumbersinspecialprimaryeducationareincreasingeachyear.Inthe2006-2007schoolyear,26.794pupilswereenrolledinspe-cialeducation.Inprimaryeducation,6,47%ofpupilsattendspecialschools.

Integrated nursery and primary education (Geïntegreerdbasisonderwijs - GON) results from co-operation be-tweenmainstreamandspecialnurseryandprimaryed-ucation.Disabledchildrenorchildrenwithlearningoreducationaldifficultiesattendclassesoractivitiesinaschoolformainstreameducation,withassistancefromspecialeducation.Thismaybetemporaryorpermanentand may concern some of the lessons or all subjectmatters. Just like other measures such as additionalneeds provision and special educational resources,GONisintendedtogiveasmanypupilsaspossibletheopportunitytoattendmainstreamschools.Inthe2006-2007schoolyear,1.103pupilsattendedGONinnurseryeducationand3.617pupilsinprimaryeducation.

3.2.3 Structure and organisation

Nurseryandprimaryschoolsprovidebothnurseryandprimary education, but autonomous nursery schoolsonlyprovidenurseryeducation.Inanautonomouspri-maryschool,onlyprimaryeducationisorganised.Fromastructuralpointofview,nurseryandprimaryed-ucationareseparate.Tofacilitateasmoothtransition,newschools formainstreameducationmustorganisebothnurseryandprimaryeducationfrom1Septemberonwards.

levelsofeducation:nurseryandprimaryeducation


Since1September2003anewstructurehasbeenop-erational:theschools cluster.Thisstructurehasexistedinsecondaryeducationforsometimenow.Aschoolsclusterisacollectionofdifferentschoolsofthesamelevelofeducation(nursery,primaryandsecondaryedu-cation),whichworktogetheratvariouslevels(logistics,educationprovision,…).Theschoolsmaybelongtothesameordifferentgoverningbodiesandbelongtothesameordifferenteducationalnetworks.

Thenumberofteachersinnurseryandprimaryeduca-tiondependsonthetotalnumberofteaching periods allocated for funding purposes. This means the totalnumberofteachingperiodsorganisedinaschoolthatisfinancedorfundedbythegovernment.Theseteach-ingperiodsarecalculatedonthebasisofthenumbersofpupilsonaparticularcountdateandthesupplemen-taryteachingperiods.Therearesupplementaryteach-ingperiodsfor:

• religionandnon-religiousethicsorculturalawareness;• integrationofnon-Dutchspeakingnewcomers;• pursuitofanequalopportunitiespolicy;• physicaleducation;• support of non-Dutch-speaking pupils in Dutch

language schools in the peripheral and languagebordermunicipalitiesandinschoolsinmunicipali-tiesadjacenttothelanguagebordermunicipalitiesand/ortheBrusselsCapitalRegion.

Inspecialnurseryandprimaryeducationtheremaybeadditionalteachingtimesfor:

• integratededucation;• continuinghometuition(forchildrenwhocannotgo

toschool);• schoolsinaspecificsituation(e.g.withaspecific

expertise in working with seriously disabled chil-drenorchildrenwithmultipledisabilities).

In special nursery and primary education, paramedi-cal, medical, social, psychological and remedial sup-port(hours)isaddedtoeducationalsupport(teachingtimes/teachers).Inaddition,theremaybesupplementaryteachingtimesfor schools, which have voluntarily merged, and fortemporaryhometuitionforthelong-termsick.

Apart from the teaching times, schools inmainstreamnurseryeducationreceiveanumber of hourstocallinchildcarers.Theysupportnurseryteachersandoptimisethewayinwhichtheyoungchildistakencareof.

Finally,thegovernmentallocatestoeachschoolafund-ing envelopeformanagementandsupportstaff.Thesefundingenvelopesaremeantfor:

• thecarepolicy;• the co-ordinationof ICTpolicy (only if theschool

participatesinaco-operationplatform);• thedevelopmentofadministrativesupport.

Indeed,aschoolsclusterhasarighttoafundingen-velopeinsupportofitsoperationandcanuseitforitsmanagementandsupportstaff.

Schoolsbelongingtoaco-operationplatformareenti-tledtoteachingtimesfortutorshipwhichcanbeusedfor supporting a trainee teacher, a beginning teacherandinductionteacher(LIO)(see6.7).

The government does not impose any minimum ormaximumnumberswithregardtothenumberofpupilsperclass.Theschoolsdecideforthemselveshowtheydividethepupilsintogroups.Althoughthereareotherpossiblewaysoforganising,mostnurseryandprimaryschools choose a year group system. In most cases,everyclasshasitsown(nursery)teacher.

3.2.4 Contents

Althoughnursery educationisnotcompulsory,almostallchildrenattendnurseryeducationinFlanders.Nurs-ery education works on a multifaceted education ofchildrenandencouragestheircognitive,motorandaf-fectivedevelopment.Inmainstreamnursery education,theeducationalpro-visioncoversatleast,andifpossible,inaco-ordinatedway,thefollowingsubjectareas:

• physicaleducation• expressiveeducation• Dutch• environmentalstudies• initiationintomathematics

Since1September1998developmental objectiveshavebeen introduced for each subject area inmainstreamnurseryeducation.Developmentalobjectivesdescribewhatyoungchildrenlearnatschool.

Mainstream primary education builds on the educa-tional provision of nursery education and works onthesamesubjectareas,again inaco-ordinatedway,where possible. However, ‘mathematical introduction’is replaced by real ‘mathematics’ and from the fifthyear onwards also ‘French’ as a second language isobligatory.Inmainstreamprimaryeducation,attentionis focusedoncross-curricular themes suchas ‘learn-ingtolearn’, ‘socialskills’and‘ICT’.Since1Septem-ber1998,attainment targetshavebeenapplicable inmainstream primary education. Those are minimumobjectives,whichthegovernmentconsidersnecessary



andattainableforprimaryschoolchildren.Fordetailedinformationonattainmenttargetsanddevelopmentalobjectives,see4.4.

Tospecialnurseryandprimaryeducationdevelopmen-talobjectivesapply.Currently,developmentalobjectiveshavealreadybeendrawnupfortypes1,2,7and8.

At the end of primary education, pupils who haveachievedthecurriculumtargetsreceiveacertificateofprimary education.Also in special primary educationchildrencanobtain,incertaincases,acertificatethatis equivalent to the certificate gained in mainstreamprimaryeducation.

3.2.5 Parents’ rights

In nursery and primary education, parents have anumberofexplicitrightssetoutinFlemishParliamentActs. For example, parents are given free choice ofschoolfortheirchild(see2.3and2.4).Ateachmomentinthecourseoftheschoolyear,par-entscanmaketheirchildchangeschools.Furthermore,schoolregulationsdefinetherelationshipbetweentheschoolandtheparents.

Aspecialschoolstatementisrequiredforalladmissionstospecialeducation.Thismustavoidallunnecessaryreferrals to special education. However, parents havethe right to send their child to a mainstream schoolalthoughitwasreferredtospecialeducation.


�0/ Education in FlandErs levelsofeducation:secondaryeducation


3.3 secondary education

Secondaryeducationisaimedatyoungpeopleaged12to18.Justlikeinnurseryandprimaryeducation,thereareschoolsclustersinsecondaryeducation.Aschoolsclusterisacollectionofdifferentschoolsofthesamelevelofeducation(nursery,primaryorsecondaryedu-cation),whichworktogetheratvariouslevels(logistics,educationprovision,…).Theschoolsmaybelongtothesameordifferentgoverningbodiesandbelongtothesameordifferenteducationalnetworks.

3.3.1 Mainstream secondary education

Secondary education is attended by 457.527 pupils(2006-2007schoolyear).Threequartersofthepupilsat-tendschoolinpubliclyfunded,privatelyruneducation.

Since1989,full-time secondary educationhasbeenor-ganisedinauniform system.Thisuniformstructurecomprisesstages,typesofedu-cationandcoursesofstudy.Pupilsonlymakeafinalchoiceofsubjectsinthesecondstagesothattheyarefirstintroducedtoasmanysubjectsaspossible.

The majority of teaching periods in the first stage isdevotedtothecorecurriculumandconsistsof:

• Dutch• FrenchandpossiblyEnglish• mathematics• history• geography• educationinthearts• sciences• technology• physicaleducation• religionorethics

From the second stage, we distinguish four differenteducationforms:

• General secondary education (aso) places an em-phasisonbroadgeneraleducation.Pupilsarenotprepared foraspecificprofession.asoprovidesaveryfirmfoundationforpassingontotertiaryedu-cationandthatiswhymostpupilschoosetocon-tinue studyingafter aso. 39,9%ofpupils attendaso(2006-2007schoolyear).

• Technical secondary education(tso)placesaspecialemphasisongeneralandtechnical/theoreticalsub-jects.Aftertso,youngpeoplecanexerciseaprofes-sionorpassontotertiaryeducation.Thiseducationalsoincludespracticalclasses.

31,3 % of pupils attend tso (2006-2007 schoolyear).

• Secondary arts education (kso) combines abroadgeneral education with active arts practice. Afterkso,youngpeoplecanexerciseaprofessionorgoontotertiaryeducation.1,9%ofpupilsattendkso(2006-2007schoolyear).

• Vocational secondary education(bso)isapractice-orientedtypeofeducationinwhichyoungpeoplelearnaspecificoccupationinadditiontoreceivinggeneraleducation.

26,9%ofpupilsattendbso(includingpupilsinthefourthstageofbsoandmodulareducation)(2006-2007schoolyear).

Withinoneoftheseeducationforms,thepupiloptsforaparticularcourseofstudy.Anumberofthesecoursesonlystartinthethirdoreventhefourthstage.

Inthesecondandthethirdstage,thereisacommonandanoptionalspecificpart.Intheoptionalpart,thecorecurriculumissupplementedwithabroadrangeofpossiblesubjects.Inthethird stage,thespecifictrain-ing component can be narrowed down again with aviewtofacilitatetheultimatecareerchoiceorthepos-sibleeducationalpathwaysinhighereducation.

Inthefourth stage consistingmainlyofnursingtrainingprogrammes,nocorecurriculumisimposedbecauseofthespecificityofthetraining.

Apupilgainsthediplomaofsecondaryeducationaftersuccessfullycompletingsixyearsofaso,tso,orksoorsevenyearsofbso.8

Asaholderofadiplomaofsecondaryeducation,theyoung person has unlimited access to higher educa-tion.Neithertheschool,northetypeofeducationandcourseofstudyplayapartinthis.Exceptionsarethedegrees indentistryormedicine forwhich theyoungpersonhastositanentranceexamination.

The class committee decides whether or not a pupilhaspassed.Itdecideswhetherornotapupilhassuf-ficientlyachievedtheobjectivesofthecurriculum.Theclasscommitteeconsistsoftheheadteacherandalltheteacherswhoteachthepupilconcerned.Everyyearissupportedwithanorientationcertificate,acertificate,astudycertificateoradiploma.Governing bodies are free to choose their evaluationmethods.Withtheexceptionofafewbasicrules,theauthorities do not impose any standards with regardtopupilassessment.Theinspectoratedoescontrolthequalityoftheevaluationintheschoolaudit(see4.4).

8 Forfurtherdetails:seethediagramoftheeducationalstructure(p.25).

levelsofeducation:secondaryeducation


3.3.2 Special secondary education

Some young people are hampered in their physical,psychological,socialor intellectualdevelopmentbyadisabilityorbylearningorbehaviouraldifficulties.Theytemporarilyorpermanentlyneedspecialassistanceandeducation tailored to their needs. For this help, theycangotospecial education.Specialeducationprovidesaneducationalprovision tailored to theneedsof thepupil.Theyearsinspecialsecondaryeducation(buso),rarelycoincidewiththeschoolyearsinmainstreamsec-ondary education. Indeed, a pupil only passes on tothenext‘learningstage’whenheisreadyforthis.Thetypes of education that exist in special nursery andprimary education (see 3.2.2) are the same as thoseinsecondaryeducation.Theexceptionistype8,whichisnotorganisedat the levelof secondaryeducation.Inspecialsecondaryeducation,typesofeducationareorganisedinaccordancewiththetypeofdisabilityandthepossibilitiesofthepupil:

• Education type 1providessocialeducationaimedattheintegrationofthepupilinashelteredenviron-ment.

• Education type 2providesgeneralandsocialedu-cation,and training forworkaimedat thepupils’integrationinashelteredlivingandworkingenvi-ronment.

• Education type 3providesgeneralsocialandvoca-tionaltrainingaimedatthepupils’integrationinanordinarylivingandworkingenvironment.

• Education type 4 prepares for studies in highereducation and aims at the pupils’ integration inactivelife.

Withineverytypeofspecialeducation,theorganisationand provision is adapted to the specific educationalandtrainingneedsofeveryindividual.

Infull-timesecondaryeducation,3,98%ofpupilsat-tendspecialschools.Asinothertypesofeducation,theprivatelyrunnetworkattractsmostpupils,i.e.64,63%.

Thegovernmentisdevisingameanstofurtherimproveeducation tailored to thepupil’sneeds: learning sup-port. It is being developed for nursery, primary andsecondaryeducation.Learningsupportgivesaclearerdescriptionoftheprovisioninmainstreamandspecialeducationandbettermatchestheprovisiontotheindi-vidualneedsofeverychild(see6.6).

Integrated secondary education (Geïntegreerdsecundaironderwijs-GON)results,justlikeinnurseryandprima-ry education, from co-operation between mainstreamand special education. In this way, disabled childrenorchildrenwithlearningoreducationaldifficultiescan

attendclassesoractivitiesinaschoolformainstreameducation.Theyarehelpedbyexpertsfromspecialedu-cation.Thismaybetemporaryorpermanentandmayconcernsomeofthelessonsorallsubjectmatters.Inthe2006-2007schoolyear,2.522pupilsreceivedinte-gratedsecondaryeducation.

3.3.3 Part-time learning and working

Fromtheageof15or16,pupilscantransfertopart-time education.Part-timelearningisavailableinthreeways:

• through part-time vocational secondary education(dbso);

• throughapprenticeship(organisedbySyntraVlaan-deren);

• throughpart-timetrainingprogrammes.

Thedbsoisorganisedinapart-timeeducationcentre.Pupilsattend15teachingperiodsperweekandsupple-mentthoseperiodswithaworkexperiencethatcorre-spondstothetraining.Throughthistypeofeducation,youngpeoplecangainaqualificationcertificateoracertificateofthesecondstageofsecondaryeducation.However, these certificates are not equivalent to thediplomadeliveredattheendoffull-timevocationalsec-ondaryeducation.Inthe2006-2007schoolyear,6.577pupilswereenrolledindbso.52%attendprivatelyruneducation.

Theapprenticeship system(orthe‘apprenticeshipcon-tract’) offers young people the opportunity to attendapractice-orientedtrainingprogrammeinordertobe-come a self-employed entrepreneur or an employee.They can conclude an apprenticeship agreementwiththeheadofcompany/trainer.Theapprenticeshipagree-mentprovidesfor4daysofpracticaltraininginasmallor medium sized business (SME), or with a self-em-ployed person and 1 day of theoretical training perweek.At the end of the training, successful traineesreceivean‘apprenticeship’certificate.

Personaldevelopmentandindividualguidancearees-peciallyfocusedoninpart-time education centres.In-deed, this system is oriented towards young peoplewhoaretemporarilynotabletoworkorparticipateineducation.

ThegovernmentispreparinganewActonlearningandworkingwhichsetsoutthat,fromthe2008-2009schoolyearonwards,allyoungpeopleinpart-timeeducationmustlearnandworkforatleast28hoursaweek.Fur-thermore,abetterharmonisationofthethreeexistinglearningsystemsisaimedat.Inthe‘new’part-timeedu-cation system, youngpeoplewill beable to attain a



vocationalqualificationthroughanindividuallytailoredlearningpathway.

3.3.4 Partipation of pupils and parents

Sincethe2004-2005schoolyear,schoolsmustestab-lishaneducationalcouncilandaparentcouncil ifre-spectively10%oftheteachers/parentsaskforit.Secondaryschoolsarealsorequiredtocreateapupilcouncil,exceptwhentheyofferanotherwayofinvolv-ingpupils inschoolpolicymaking.But if10%of thepupils explicitly request the establishment of a pupilcouncil,theschoolisobligedtosetupapupilcouncilanyhow.The educational council, the parent council and thepupilcouncileachappointtheirrepresentativestotheschoolcouncil.Throughthisschoolcouncil,staff,par-ents,pupilsandmembersofthelocalcommunitypar-ticipateinschoolpolicy(see2.11).

Inrecentyears,thelegalpositionofthepupilhasim-provedsubstantially.Forexample,allsecondaryschoolsmust establish school regulations. School regulationscontain the mutual rights and duties of parents andpupils,ontheonehand,andtheschoolboard,ontheotherhand.Inaddition,theystatetherulesfororderanddisciplineand theappealprocedure forstudentswhowant to contest examination results.The schoolcouncildiscussestheseregulationsbeforehand.


��/ Education in FlandErs��/

3.4 Higher education

InFlanders, the followinghighereducationcoursesareprovided:

• BachelorcoursesProfessionalbachelorcoursesAcademicbachelorcourses• Mastercourses• Furthertrainingprogrammes• Postgraduatesandupdatingandin-servicetrainingcourses• Doctoralprogrammes

Higher professional education exclusivelyconsistsofprofessionallyorientedbachelorcourses,whichareonlyorganisedatcollegesof higher education. In 2006-2007, 78.526studentswereenrolledinprofessionallyori-entedhighereducation.

Academic educationcomprisesbachelorandmastercourses,whichareprovidedbyuni-versities.Alsocollegesofhighereducationbelongingtoanassociationareallowedtoprovideacademiceducation.In2006-2007,84.817studentswereenrolled inacademiceducation.An association is inter-institutional co-op-erationbetweenoneuniversityandoneormorecollegesofhighereducation.Associa-tionsimproveinteractionbetweeneducationandresearch.TherearefiveassociationsinFlanders:

• theK.U.LeuvenAssociation• theGhentUniversityAssociation• theAntwerpUniversityAssociation• theBrusselsUniversityAssociation• the University and Colleges of Limburg

Association

Inthehighereducationregisterarerecordedallprogrammesofstudyprovidedbyuniver-sitiesandcollegesofhighereducation:www.hogeronderwijsregister.be

levelsofeducation:highereducation


3.4.1 Bachelor courses

Thereareprofessionalandacademicbachelorcourses.

Theprofessional bachelor courses,whichareonlypro-videdbycollegesofhighereducation,areorientedto-wardsprofessionalpractice.Theycomprisegeneralandspecificknowledgecoursesandcompetenciesthatarenecessaryforanautonomousexerciseofonespecificprofessionoragroupofprofessions.Theprofessionalbacheloristrainedtoimmediatelyenterthelabourmar-ket.Bothcollegesanduniversitiesofferacademic bachelor courses, which prepare students for master courses.Academiccoursescentreongeneraltrainingandfocuson theacquisitionofacademicorartisticknowledge.Theymakestudentsacquirecompetences,whichtheymusthaveinordertofunctioninthefieldofsciencesorthearts.Academiccoursesarefoundedonresearch.Thestudentworkloadofabachelorcourseisatleast180 ECTS credits which correspond to three years offull-timestudy.9

Inorder tostartabachelorcourse, thestudentmustbeholderof:

• adiplomaofsecondaryeducation;• adiplomaoffull-timehighereducationofonecy-

cle;• adiplomaofthe‘GeneralEducation’areaofstudy

ofsecondaryadulteducation;• adiplomaorcertificatethat isrecognisedequiva-

lent under a law, an act, a European directive oranotherinternationalagreement.

Ifthediplomaorcertificateisnotrecognised,thecol-legeofhighereducationoruniversitycanstilldecidetoadmitthestudent.ThismaybethecaseforastudentwhohasgainedadiplomaoracertificateoutsidetheEuropeanUnionthatprovidesaccesstohigherprofes-sionaloracademiceducationinthatcountry.Moreover,candidateswhodonotmeettheabove-men-tionedentryconditionsmaybegrantedadmission toabachelorcoursebycollegesofhighereducationanduniversitiesbecauseof:

• humanitarianreasons;• medical,psychologicalorsocialreasons;• thegenerallevelofqualification,meritsorcompe-

tencies.

Anadmissiontestdesignedtogaugethestudents’ar-tistictalentsismandatoryforthedisciplinesofvisualandaudio-visualarts,musicandperformingarts.Thecollegeofhighereducationwherethestudentwantstoenrol,administersthistest.

Adiplomaisissuedtostudentshavingcompletedthebachelorcourse.

3.4.2 Master courses

Mastercoursesareofferedbyuniversitiesandcolleg-esofhighereducationparticipatinginanassociation.Master courses are always academically oriented butsomehavealsoaprofessionalorientation(doctor,en-gineer,pharmacist,translator,interpreter,…).Master courses are intended to bring students to anadvanced level of knowledge and competencies thattheycanusebothforgeneralandspecificscientificorartisticfunctioning.Thisknowledgeandthesecompe-tenciesenablethemtopractisesciencesortheartsinanautonomousway.Studentscanalsousethisknowl-edgeforindependentlyexercisingaprofessionorgroupof professions.A master course is concluded with amaster’sthesis.Thestudentworkloadofamastercourseisatleast60ECTScreditswhichcorrespondtooneyearoffull-timestudy.A diploma of an academic bachelor course is a gen-eral prerequisite for entry to a master course. But aprofessional bachelor can take a master course aftercompletionofabridging programme.Collegesofhighereducation and universities autonomously set up thisprogramme. This bridging programme amounts to aminimumof45creditsandamaximumof90credits.Qualifications and competencies acquired elsewherecan reduce the bridging programme to 30 credits orless.Theexecutiveboardautonomouslydecidesonthismatter.Studentsproposingtoentermedicineordentistryhavetositanentranceexamination.

3.4.3 Further training programmes

Studentswhohavecompletedaprofessionalbachelorcourse, can take a bachelor after bachelor course. Inthis further training programme, students strengthentheir competencies or attain specialised expertise inthecompetenciesacquiredduringthebachelorcourse.A master course can be followed by a ‘master after master course’.(second or subsequent master).Justlikewith the ‘bachelor afterbachelor course’, the compe-tenciesacquiredduring themastercourseare furtherdeveloped.Thecourseseachhavealoadofatleast60creditsandadiplomaisawardeduponcompletion.At least a higher education diploma is required forenteringabachelorafterbachelorcourse.Collegesofhigher education decide autonomously which highereducationdiplomasgrantadmissiontoaspecificbach-elorafterbachelorprogramme.At least a master diploma is required for entering amasteraftermastercourse.Collegesofhighereduca-

levelsofeducation:highereducation

9 ECTSstandsforEuropeanCreditTransferSystem.ThisistheEuropeancredittransferandaccumulationsystemandanimportanttoolinbuildingoneEuropeanSpaceforHigherEducation.


tionanduniversitiesdecideforthemselveswhichmas-terdiplomasgiveentrytoaspecificmasteraftermastercourse.

3.4.4 Postgraduates and updating and in-service training courses

Bothcollegesofhighereducationanduniversitiescanorganisepostgraduatecourses.Apostgraduatedegreeisdeliveredafteracoursecorrespondingwitheduca-tionandstudyactivitiesofat least20credits.Thesetraining pathways focus on the strengthening and/orthedeepeningofcompetencesacquiredafterthebach-elor or master programme for the purpose of furtherprofessionaltraining.Thus,inordertobeeligibleforapostgraduatecourse,abachelorormasterdiplomaisrequired.The institutionsautonomouslydecidewhichdiplomasgiveentrytoaspecificpostgraduatecourse.Acertificateisissuedtostudentshavingcompletedthepostgraduatecourse.Furthermore, higher education institutions can offerawide rangeofupdatingand in-service trainingpro-grammes.Thestudentworkloadofthosecoursesisnotlaiddownandisdefined,justliketheentryconditions,bytheinstitutionsthemselves.Uponcompletionofthecourses,studentsareawardedacertificate.

3.4.5 Doctoral programmes

The doctoral programme trains the researcher to au-tonomouslycontributetothedevelopmentandgrowthofscientificknowledge.Tothisend,theresearcherpre-paresadoctoralthesis.Thethesismustprovethattheresearcherisabletocreatenewscientificknowledgeinacertaindisciplineoracrossdisciplines.Anditshouldalso result in scientificpublications. Afterpublicde-fenceofthisthesis,theresearcher isawardedadoc-toral degree. Only universities are allowed to deliverthisdoctoratedegree.

3.5 Part-time arts education (dko)

Part-time arts education is education which supple-mentsschooleducationandisaimedatchildren,youngpeople and adults. Participants enrol voluntarily andpayanenrolmentfee.Part-timeartseducationfocusesontheartisticeducationofchildrenandadults.Inthisway,itcontributestotheirpersonaldevelopment.Pu-pilsbecomefamiliarwithartinallitsforms.Theylearntocriticallyapproachandexperienceallartformsandcanpractisethemthemselves.Theydosoindividuallyoringroup(e.g.inanorchestra,dancegroup,orthea-trecompany).Part-timeartseducationthoroughlypre-paresyoungpeopleforaprofessionalartisticcareerinhighereducationinthearts.Moreover,itimprovesthequalityofsocialandculturallifeinFlanders.

In part-time arts education there are four differentcoursesofstudy:

• visualarts• music• wordcraft• dance

Everycourseofstudyhasitsownstructure,withlevelsandoptionsthatarelaiddownbylaw.

Childrencanstartdanceandvisualartseducationfromtheageof6.Forthedisciplinesofmusicandwordcraftthestartingageis8.Every discipline comprises different levels : a lowerlevel, an intermediate level and an upper level. It isonlyinthevisualartsdisciplinethataspecialistlevelisorganised.Uponsuccessfullycompletingeverylevel,a final certificate or a certificate indicating the levelachievedisawardedtothestudent.

Part-timeartseducationisprovidedin80%ofthemu-nicipalitiesinFlandersandtheBrusselsCapitalRegion.Itisobviousthatthisisawidespreadformofeduca-tion.The sector currently comprises 167 colleges: 101 areformusic,wordcraftanddance,and66forvisualarts.88%of the colleges fall under urbanandmunicipaleducation.165.157 pupils eligible for funding were enrolled indko in the 2006-2007 school year. Music, wordcraftand dance courses are attended by 107.612 courseparticipants; for visual arts, theynumber 57.545. Forthecollectionofdata,pupilsattendingmorethanonedisciplinearecountedmorethanonce.Mostpupilsareundertheageof18.

levelsofeducation:artseducation

Education in FlandErs /�� levelsofeducation:artseducation


3.6 Adult education

Adulteducation isentirelyapart from the initial edu-cational pathway. Courses delivered in this type ofeducationmayleadtoarecogniseddiploma,certificateor qualification.Adults aged 18 and over and youngpeople who have complied with full-time compulsoryeducation,mayenrol.Dependingonthecoursechosen,theremaybespecificentryrequirements.ThenewFlemishParliamentActonAdultEducationof15 June 2007 thoroughly reorganizes adult educationandcontainsthefollowingkeygoals:

• the full integration of adult basic education into(adult)education;

• theintroductionofhighervocationaleducation(see5.4);

• the establishment of 13 regional partnerships (=consortiumsofadulteducation);

• thechoiceformodularcourses;• anewsupportstructureforadulteducation.

3.6.1 Structure and organisation

Adulteducationconsistsofthreelevelsofeducation:

• adultbasiceducation;• secondaryadulteducation;• highervocationaleducation.

Adult basic education centresarepluralistcentres,es-tablished as not-for-profit organisations. The generalassemblyconsistsforatleastonequarterofrepresent-ativesoflocalauthorities,provinces,inter-localauthor-itypartnerships,publiccentresforsocialwelfareordis-tricts.From1September2008,theexisting29centresmergeinto13centres.Sothereisonecentreforeachoperatingareaofanadulteducationconsortium.

Adult education centresareestablishedasprivatelyruncentresoraspubliclyruncentres.Currently,thereare117 centres for adult education.Theyoffer secondaryadulteducationandhighervocationaleducation.

levelsofeducation:adulteducation


From 1 September 2008, the 13 consortiums of adult education have been operating. These regional part-nerships will optimise and harmonise the trainingprogrammes provided by the centres for adult basiceducation and the centres for adult education. Theywillalsoco-operatewithotherpubliclyrunadulteduca-tionproviders.Inaddition,theconsortiumsarechargedwiththetaskofimprovingtheprovisionofservicestocourseparticipants.

Dutch Language Houses do not offer adult educationthemselves but work closely together with actors ofadulteducation.Allcentresofadultbasiceducation;allcentresofadulteducationprovidingcoursesinDutchasasecondlanguage(NT2);VDABcentres;Syntra;uni-versity languages centres; provincial authorities; theFlemishCommunityCommissionandthelocalauthori-ties ofAntwerp and Ghent are partners of the DutchLanguageHouses.

ThereareeightDutchLanguageHouses:oneforeachFlemishprovinceandeachtimeoneforthecitiesofAnt-werp,BrusselsandGhent.Thehousesarenot-for-profitorganisations focusing on non-Dutch-speaking adults.Theyorganiseandco-ordinatetheintake,testingandreferralofapplicants for,andparticipants in, theNT2provision.ThereforetheymapouttheNT2provisionintheiroperatingareaand look into theneedsofnon-Dutchspeakersinsearchofacourse.

TheDutchLanguageHousesarespreadinthesamewayasarethewelcomeofficeswithwhichtheyco-operatecloselyinordertointegratenon-Dutch-speakingnewcomers.

3.6.2 Provision

Adult education offers modular courses. The subjectmatter is subdivided into a number of modules. Thecentreisfreetospreadamoduleoverpartoftheyearor the entire year. So modules can start at differenttimes throughout theyearand thecourseparticipantcan compose his own study programme and fix thelengthofhisstudy.Themodulescanbeorganisedascontact educationoras combined education. In contact education, all les-sonsaretaughtinthecentre.Asforcombinededuca-tion,partofthemoduleistaughtintheclassroomandpart of the module can be learned autonomously, athomeorinanopenlearningcentre.Untilthe2011-2012schoolyear,linear courseswithoneormoreyearsofstudyarestillbeingorganised.Theadult basic educationcoursesaresubdividedintothefollowingdisciplines:

• Dutchasasecondlanguageliteracy• Dutchasasecondlanguage(NT2)

• Dutch• mathematics• socialorientation• informationandcommunicationtechnologies(ICT)• introductioninEnglishandFrench

In the 2005-2006 year of operation, 31.838 courseparticipants were enrolled in a course of adult basiceducation.50%ofthemattendedaDutchasasecondlanguagecourse.

Thecoursesinsecondary adult educationareorganisedattheleveloffull-timesecondaryeducation,withtheexceptionofthefirststage,andaresubdividedintothefollowingcoursesofstudy:

• generaleducation• car• specialeducationalneeds• bookbinding• construction• chemistry• decorativetechniques• diamondmanufacturing• graphictechniques• commerce• wood• educationinhouseholdskills• informationandcommunicationtechnologies(ICT)• jewelry• lace• heatingandcooling• agricultureandhorticulture• leather-working• careofthebody• maritimecourses• mechanicsandelectricity• fashion• constructionofmusicalinstruments• Dutchasasecondlanguage(NT2)• personalcare• forging• languageslevel1and2• languageslevel3and4• textile• tourism• food

Withinthe‘generaleducation’discipline,coursesoftheformer ‘secondchanceeducation’arealsooffered.Byattendingthosecourses,adultscanstillgainacertifi-cateofsecondaryeducation.Theadulteducationcen-tresorganisetheexamsthemselvesandawardthesec-ondaryeducationdiploma.

levelsofeducation:adulteducation

In2006-2007,302.113courseparticipantswereenrolledinsecondaryeducation.59,74%werewomen.Themajorityofenrolmentsrelatedtothemodularcourses:89,84%.

Thecoursesofhigher vocational educationaresubdi-videdintothefollowingcoursesofstudy:

• industrialsciencesandtechnology• commercialsciencesandbusinessstudies• healthcare• education• socialandcommunitywork• biotechnology

In2006-2007,therewere26.879enrolmentsinthislev-elofeducation.57,93%ofthecourseparticipantswerewomen.58,70%oftheenrolmentswereformodularcoursecomponents.HighervocationaleducationwasintroducedforthefirsttimeintheActonadulteducationbutisextendedwitha7thspecialistyearintsoandksoandthefourthstag-esofbso,whichareorganisedbyinstitutionsofmain-streamfull-timesecondaryeducation.Alsocollegesofhighereducationwill get theopportunity toorganisehighervocationaleducationcourses(see5.4).

3.6.3 Support to adult education

TheFlemish Support Centre for Adult Education(VlaamsOndersteuningscentrumvoorhetVolwassenenonderwijs-VOCVO),isaneworganisation,whichreceivesayearlygrant for the support and guidance of the adult ba-siceducationcentresandtheadulteducationcentres,whichdonotcallonaneducationcounsellingservice.Thissupportcanbegivenintheformofinvestmentsorfinancingofstaffingcosts.Thesameamountisdividedamongtheeducationcounsellingservicesforthesup-port and monitoring of the affiliated adult educationcentres.

levelsofeducation:adulteducation�0/ Education in FlandErs

4. support and quality control

/�1

��/ Education in FlandErs supportandqualitycontrol

4.1 Pupil guidance centres (cLbs)

ThePupilguidancecentreorCLBisaservicefinancedbythegovernment. InFlanders, thereare73centres,whicheachbelongtooneofthethreeeducationalnet-works.ButaCLBworksacrossthenetworksandthuscanalsoaccompanyschoolsbelongingtoanotheredu-cationalnetwork.Pupils, parents, teachers and school managementteams can call on the CLB for information, help andguidance.CLBguidanceisfreeofchargeandisbasedonfourkeypillars:• learningandstudying• theschoolcareer• preventivehealthcare• socialandemotionaldevelopment

So CLBs provide multidisciplinary guidance. To thisend,aCLBco-operateswithwelfareandhealthinstitu-tions. In a CLB, doctors, social workers, educational-ists,psychologists,psychologicalassistantsandnursesareemployed.Dependingon the localneedsandonthe circumstances, also speech therapists and physi-otherapistsareactiveinCLBs.Eachteammemberhasanumberofspecifictasks,buthealwayscollaborateswiththeotherteammembers.

The welfare of the pupil is central and guidance isbased on trust and dialogue. Therefore the guidanceonlystartswhenapupilorparenthastakenaninitia-tiveinthisrespect.IfaschoolaskstheCLBtosuper-viseapupil,thecentrewillalwaysfirstexpresslyaskfortheparents’consent(forapupilundertheageof12),orthepupil’sconsent(fromtheageof12).Guid-ancebyaCLBisonlycompulsoryinthecaseoftruancy.TheCLBalsoorganisesmedicalexaminationsthataremandatoryinsomeyearsofstudy.Intheframeworkofpreventive health care, the CLB doctor administers anumberofvaccinations.Ifacontagiousdiseasebreaksoutatschool,theCLBtakesmeasurestogetherwiththeschoolinordertopreventthediseasefromspreading.

TheCLBprovisionfocusesparticularlyonpupilsatriskof dropping out due to their social background andproblematiclivingconditions.TheCLBguaranteescon-fidentialityofpupildataandworks independently. Inthis way, the CLB works towards equal opportunitiesineducationforallyoungpeople.TheCLBisalsothebody,whichrefersyoungpeopletospecialeducationifnecessary.

The CLB has a pivotal function and signposts youngpeopletoappropriateassistance.ThatiswhytheCLBisamajorpartnerofIntegratedYouthAssistance.Apart

fromtheCLB, IntegratedYouthAssistanceconsistsof6majoryouthassistancesectors,whichco-operateforthepurposeofharmonisingtheirprovision.The co-operationbetween the school and theCLB issetoutinapolicyplanorcontract.Inordertoensurequality,theCLBmustdrawupaqualityhandbookandaqualityplan.AnindependentCLBinspectoratesuper-visestheirimplementation.

4.2 information and communication technologies (ict)

Inourknowledgesociety,dealingwithICThasbecomeakeyskill.Thissocietalevolutionrequiresnewskillsfromchildrenandadults and influences learningandteachingmethods.Thenewcross-curricularattainmenttargetsanddevelopmentalobjectivesforICThavebeenapplicableinnurseryandprimaryeducationandinthefirststageofsecondaryeducationasof 1September2007.InordertoachievetheseattainmenttargetsforICT,theFlemishGovernmentdesignedafive-pillarpol-icy:

1. Strengtheningthepolicy-makingpowerofeduca-tioninstitutionsattheleveloftheinstitution.

Since the 2002-2003 school year, schools have beenreceiving resources for the co-ordination of their ICTpolicy.Theseresourcesarecalculatedonthebasisofa‘backpack’perpupil.Educationlevelswithhigherneedsgetmorefunds.AmongotherthingsanICTco-ordinatormayberecruitedwiththesefunds.HeisresponsibleforthetechnicalandeducationalICTsupportwithinthepartnershipofschoolsorwithinasingleschool.

2. Improvingtheexpertiseoftheeducationstaff.

Training through REN Vlaanderen10: The key task ofthisregionalnetworkofexpertsistogiveteachersanin-depth training in the educational use of ICT. RENVlaanderenprovidesbothsupply-anddemand-drivenin-service training. Inaddition, itorganizeseachyearin-service training and study days on three specificthemes.Moreover,RENVlaanderendevelopssupportingmaterialsuchas“pICTos”.Thisisanelectronicplanningtoolallowingschoolstochecktheirprogressinachiev-ingtheattainmenttargetsforICTandtoexaminehowtoimprovetheintegrationofICTinschoolactivities.

www.renvlaanderen.be

11 REN=RegionalNetworkofExperts

3. Providingahighqualityinfrastructure.

In order to teach ICT skills, a robust computer infra-structure is needed. Under the ICT infrastructure pro-gramme,extrameansareawardedtoeducationinsti-tutionsallowingthemtopurchasehardware,softwareandtrainingpackages.Throughthe I-line programme,all levelsofeducationofeducational institutions canuseafastinternetconnectionatreducedcost.Alluni-versitiesandcollegesofhighereducationcansurfwithaGigabit Ethernet connection.Inthisway,theFlemishGovernment encourages higher education institutionsto choose for e-Researchanddevelopadigital infra-structuretothisend.

4. Designinganappropriatepolicyonteaching resources.

Under theauthorityof theFlemishMinistryofEduca-tion and Training and together with Klascement, aneducationalportalsiteprovidingvariousteachingma-terialswasdeveloped.11Itmakestheresultsofgovern-

mentprojectsavailabletoawiderrangeofeducationalstakeholders.

At regular intervals, thegovernmentorganisesaware-ness-raisingcampaignsandsupportprojectsforseveralaspectsofICTuse.Guidelinesandteachingresourcesonsafe ICT useweredevelopedandteachingresourceswith free softwareweredistributed.Furthermore,sev-eralprojectsarefinancedintheframeworkofICT use and learning support.www.klascement.net

5. EncouragingresearchandICTmonitoring.

Theauthoritiesstimulatethedevelopmentanddissemi-nationofknowledgeonvariousaspectsofICTpolicy:ICT skillsofpupils, courseparticipants, studentsandteachers;ICTinfrastructure;ICTtraining…Theuniversi-tiesofGhentandLouvainaredevelopingamonitoringtool that provides information on various ICT indica-tors. These data are useful for future evaluations ofthepolicy.

supportandqualitycontrol Education in FlandErs /��


4.3 communication

Inordertoachievequalityeducationbaseduponequalopportunitiesforall,astronginvolvementofschools,teachersandpupils,parents,localauthorities,…isnec-essary.Thecreationofsuchabroadsocialsupportasksforintegratedcommunicationwiththedifferenttargetgroups.The communication (what andhow)mustbeadaptedtothetargetgroup.Moreoverit is importanttoalsoattractthosetargetgroupsthataretheoreticallymoredifficulttoreach:individualswhodonothaveac-cesstotheInternet,peoplewithlowreadingabilities,peoplewithalimitedcommandofthelanguage...Manyinitiatives have already been taken to better adaptthe communication to vulnerable groups. Klasse XTRStrong,forexample,isafreemonthlye-letterforthoseworking with vulnerable groups in education. KlasseXTR Strong compiles examples of good practice andextratipsforcommunicationsuchasforwritingletterstoparentswithlowlanguageabilities.

Klasse is a multifaceted publication. Klasse compris-es fourmagazines thataremonthlypublishedby theAgencyforEducationalCommunicationandaredistrib-uted freeof chargeamong teachers,parentsandpu-pils.Moreover,therearerelatingwebsites,e-letters,ateacherandstudentcard...whichformaninextricablepartoftheproject(seediagram).Although the four Klasse magazines have differenttargetgroupstheyconstantly linkupwitheachotherbycoveringsimilartopics(e.g.drugs,choiceofstudy,learningtolearn,agression....).Byexchanginginforma-tionbetweenthedifferenttargetgroups,everyone’sin-volvementintheworldofupbringingandeducationisenhanced.Klasseco-operateswithawidenetworkoforganisations.

TV.KlasseKlassenowalsoprovidesvideocoverageofclassroomorschooleventsfortheInternet.

InadditiontotheKlassemagazines,theMinistrypub-lishesseveralotherpublicationswhichoftenarealsoelectronicallyavailableonwww.ond.vlaanderen.be/publicaties

Theonderwijs.vlaanderen.bewebsiteisaportaltoallon-line information and services of the Ministry. Thissiteclearlyrespondstoinformationneeds:in2007anaverageof20,000visitorswerecounteddaily.

Electroniccommunicationisthusofparamountimpor-tancebecauseofthefollowingadvantages:

• The information is available in real time and 24hoursaday.

• Thecontentsiseasilyupdatedanddisseminatedonalargescale.

• Thecommunicationmaybecustomisedtothespe-cificneedsoftargetgroups(e.g.e-letters).

• Targetgroupssuchasthevisuallyimpairedcanbereached.

Neverthelessdirectinteractionwiththeeducationsec-tor and the broad public remains important. That iswhyinformationeventsareheldatregularintervals.AtInformation Days for Prospective Students (‘SID-ins’),finalyearstudentsofsecondaryeducationcanobtaininformation on possible educational and professionalchoices.TheannualToursofFlandersattheendoftheschool year are dedicated to inform school manage-mentteamsandschoolsecretarialstaffaboutthenewlegislationoneducation.

supportandqualitycontrol

Title Target group Scope

Klasse Monthlymagazinesenttoteachers,schoolmanagement teams,CLBstaff,administrativestaff,traineeteachers. 100%(=200.000copies)

Klasse for parents Monthlynewsletterpresented(viatheschools)toparents havingchildrenbetweentheagesof2,5and14. 95%(=700.000copies)

Yeti Magazineforteens(distributedviatheschools)forpupils between10and12(=3rdstageofprimaryeducation). 96%(=140.000copies)

Maks! Newspaperforyoungpeople(distributedviatheschools)(Klassefor forpupilsbetween14and18youngpeople) (=2ndand3rdstageofsecondaryeducation). 91%(=200.000copies)

www.klasse.be Viaklasse.be,thevisitorcansurftoallKlassemagazines. Thecontentsofthesesitesiscarefullytailoredtothe targetgroup’senvironment.Parentskeepblogsandhelp eachother.Youngpeopleconductdebatesinasafe environment.Teachersandschoolmanagementteams (Approx.600.000visitors quicklyfindappropriateprofessionalinformation. permonth

E-letters •SchooldirectandLerarendirectgiveclearinformationon importanteducationalnewstopicsrespectivelytoschool managementteamsandteachers. Schooldirect:allschool •TheelectronicnewslettersKlasseXTR,OudersXTR, management teams + 14.000 XTRStrong,RamboenMaksupdateprovideextra freesubscriptions informationtothereadersofthedifferentKlassemagazines. Lerarendirect:27.000teachers

Teacher card Officialidentificationcardissuedtoteachersgivingthem freeentryorsharpreductionswhentheyvisitmuseums, theatres,naturereserves,culturalcentres,etc...inviewof preparingtheirlessonsandextra-curricularactivities. (=180.000cards)

Student card Acardforsecondaryeducationstudentstowhichare linkedactionsandadvantages. (=400.000cards)

/�� supportandqualitycontrol Education in FlandErs


4.4 Quality control and quality promotion

AnewActon ‘qualitymanagement’ is inpreparation.ThisFlemishParliamentActcreatesageneralandcom-prehensiveframeworktocontinuouslyguaranteequalityeducationandanadaptedpupilguidanceatalllevelsofeducation.IfthisActisadopted,thetextbelowwillbeoutdated.Forinformationonchangestolegislation,pleaseconsultthenextwebsites

www.ond.vlaanderen.be/wetwijs

www.ond.vlaanderen.be/edulex

4.4.1. Quality control in nursery, primary, secondary education, part-time arts education,

adult education and CLBs.

Schools decide autonomously on their educationalmethods,curriculums,timetablesandtherecruitmentoftheirpersonnel.Nevertheless,thegovernmentensuresqualityeducationbyimposingconditionstobemetbytheschoolsinorderforthemtobecomeaccreditedandreceivefinancialsupport.Thissystemofqualitycontrolandpromotionisbuilton3pillars:

1. Theattainmenttargetsanddevelopmentalobjec-tives.

Attainment targetsareminimumgoalswhichthegov-ernmentconsidersnecessaryandachievableforapar-

ticulargroupofpupils.Inconcreteterms,thisconcernsknowledge,insight,attitudesandskills.Therearebothsubject-related attainment targets and cross-curricularattainmenttargets.Anexampleofanattainmenttargetfor‘technology’inprimaryeducationis:“Whenassemblingordisassemblingaconstruction,pu-pilscanfunctionallyapplytheirknowledgeofmaterialsaswellastheirknowledgeoftheprinciplesofconstruc-tionandmovement.”

FornurseryeducationandthefirstyearBaswellasthepreparative class for secondary education, no attain-ment targets but developmental objectives were laiddown.12 Developmental objectives are aims. They donothavetobeachievedbutaimedat.Developmentalobjectivesarealsoapplicable inspecialeducationsothat thespecialeducationalneedsofdisabledpupilscanbecateredforinaflexibleway.Anexampleofadevelopmental objective in nursery education for thesubjectarea‘environmentalstudies’is:“In a concrete situation, pre-schoolers can make thedifferencebetweengiving,receiving,swapping,borrow-ing,buyingandselling.”

In nursery education there are developmental objec-tivesinfivesubjectareas:‘physicaleducation’,‘expres-sive education’,’ Dutch’, ‘initiation into mathematics’and ‘environmental studies’. Primary education hasattainmentstargetsforthesamesubjectareas.Inpri-maryeducation, therearealsocross-curricular attain-

12 ThefirstyearBisabridgingclassbetweenprimaryandsecondaryeducation.Itisintendedforyoungpeoplewhohavealreadyexperiencedlearningdelaysinprimaryeducationorarelessabletoattendatypeofeducationthatislargelytheoretical.Afterwards,theycanattendthepreparativeclassforvocationaleducationorthefirstyearA.



ment targetsfor‘learningtolearn’and‘socialskills’.In secondary education subject-related and cross-cur-ricularattainmenttargetsforthefirst stagehavebeenidentified.

The cross-curricular attainment targets (VOETen) areformulatedonthebasisofanumberofthemes.Forthefirst stage, theyare: ‘learning to learn’, ‘social skills’,‘citizenshipeducation’,‘healtheducation’and‘environ-mentaleducation’.Newthemesinthesecondandthethirdstageare‘expressiveandcreativeeducation’and‘technicalandtechnologicaleducation’.Thelattercross-curricularattainmenttargetsareonlyapplicableinaso.Schools are allowed to rearrange those themes in acreativewayintousefulwholes.Cross-curricularattain-menttargetscanbeperfectlyassociatedwithsubject-relatedattainmenttargets.IfateacherusesanarticleontheFrenchrevolution,henotonlymakes learningFrenchmore tangiblebut also contributes to ‘citizen-shipeducation’.

Fromthesecond stageinsecondaryeducation,attain-ment targets are subdivided in four types of educa-tion:

• generalsecondaryeducation(aso)• vocationalsecondaryeducation(bso)• secondaryeducationinthearts(kso)• technicalsecondaryeducation(tso)

Specific attainment targets currently only exist in thesecondandthirdstageofaso.Specificattainmenttar-getsareassociatedwithskills,specificknowledge,in-sightsandattitudeswhichthepupilmusthavetostarthighereducation.At present, attainment targets specifically designedforvocationalcoursesofstudysuchasadministrativework,mechanics,bakeryetc.arebeingdeveloped.Thisspecificprovisionisneededtokeepintouchwithin-dustry.

Everygoverningbodyorschoolboardmustincludetheattainmenttargetsordevelopmentalobjectives inthecurriculum.A curriculum sums up the objectives andcontentstobeachievedinasubjectorcourseofstudy,and describes the educational methods used for thispurpose.Aneducationalmethod is theway inwhichone teaches something. For example, a teacher mayteach a certain subject matter by actively conductingexperimentsorbymakingpupilswatchademonstra-tionondvd.

2. Theinspectorate:Theeducational inspectorateoftheFlemishMinistryofEducationandTrainingactsasaprofessionalbodyof

external supervisionbyassessing the implementationoftheseattainmenttargetsanddevelopmentalobjec-tives.

Itcomprisesfiveinspectionteams:

• theinspectionteamfornurseryandprimaryeduca-tion

• theinspectionteamforsecondaryeducation• theinspectionteamforpart-timeartseducation• theinspectionteamforadulteducationandadult

basiceducation• theinspectionteamforpupilguidancecentres

There is a separate quality control system for philo-sophicalsubjectmatters.

Key tasks of the inspectorate include controlling thequalityofeducationandrecognisingeducationalinsti-tutionsandCLBs.

Theinspectorateconductsschool audits or centre audits(for CLBs and adult education) to evaluate the actualimplementationofattainmenttargetsanddevelopmen-talobjectives.Italsoexamineswhetherotherlegislativeobligations,suchasapplyingatimetablebasedonthecorecurriculum,arerespected.Whileauditing,thein-spectorate acts as a team and inspects the operationofthewholeschool/centreinonego.Suchanauditisconductedonceeverysixyearsinallinstitutions.Thein-spectorateusestheCIPOinstrument13,whichiseachtimeadaptedtothelevelofeducation.Withthisinstrument,theinspectionteamsgainafairlyaccuratepictureofthestrongandweakpointsoftheschoolorthecentre.Aftertheaudit,theinspectorategivesadvicetothemin-isterwithregardtothecontinuedrecognitionofthees-tablishment. Their advice is often a recognition undercertainconditions,sothatschoolsandcentresarestimu-latedtoimprovetheirquality.TheinspectoratesubmitsareportontheauditstotheFlemishParliamentsothatpolicymakerscanfollowuponthequalityassessments.Since2007,theinspectionreportshavebeenmadeavailabletothepublicontheInternet.

3. Educationalguidance.

Eacheducationalnetworkhasitsowneducational guid-ance service ((pedagogischebegeleidingsdienst-PBD),whichensuresprofessionalinternalsupporttoschoolsandcentres.Schoolscancallonthemforeducationalandmethodo-logicaladvisoryservices(innovationprojects,self-eval-uationprojects,support initiatives).Educationalguid-ance works across schools for the in-service trainingandsupportofschoolheads.Educationalguidancealso


13 CIPO:Context-Input-Process-Output.


playsanimportantpartinestablishingnewcurriculumsandsupportstheirimplementation.Iftheinspectorateestablishes shortcomings in schools, the educationalguidanceservicemaybecalledontoaddressthem.An-yhow,theeducationalguidanceservicefocusesaboveallonprevention.

4.4.2 Quality control in higher education

There is one single system of (internal and external)qualitycontrolforthewholeoftertiaryeducation.Collegesofhighereducationanduniversitiescarryouttheirowninternal quality control:theypermanentlyandindependently ensure thequality assessmentof theireducationalactivities.

The process of external quality control starts with aself-evaluation. Furthermore, a committee of externalexperts holds a visitation. This happens once everyeightyearsforallbachelorandmastercourses.Itcon-cernsonecourseoraclusterofrelatedcourses.Re-latedcoursesincollegesofhighereducationanduni-versitiescanbereviewedtogether.TheVlaamseInteru-niversitaireRaad(VLIR-FlemishInteruniversityCouncil)andtheVlaamseHogescholenraad(VLHORA-FlemishCouncilforNon-UniversityHigherEducation)largelyco-ordinatethesevisitationcommittees.Theresultsofthevisitationsareincludedinapublicreport.

TheHigherEducationReformActof4April2003intro-ducesanadditionaldimension toquality control, i.e.theaccreditation.Anaccreditedcourseofficiallymeetsthe international minimum quality standards. The ac-creditationofacourse isacondition forcarryingthehighereducationlabelandforawardingbachelorandmasterdegrees.InFlandersitistheNederlands-VlaamsAccreditatieorgaan (NVAO Dutch-Flemish accreditationagency) which delivers accreditations. This independ-entbodyofexpertsgrantsaccreditationsonthebasisof visitation reportsof the courses.TheaccreditationcanpossiblyalsobegrantedbyanaccreditationbodyrecognisedbytheNVAO.

Sincethe2004-2005academicyear,qualitycontrolincollegesofhighereducationanduniversitieshasbeencarriedoutinthreesteps:

• internalqualitycontrol;• externalvisitationwhichresultsinapublicreport;• accreditation.The Higher Education Reform Act gives transformedcoursesatemporarytransitionalaccreditationwhichex-piresattheendofthe2012-2013academicyear.Thusall courses must have gone through the above-men-tionedthree-stepprocessbeforethat.


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5. Matching Education to labour MarkEt nEEds


5.1 development of talents: testing grounds

Allpupilshavetalentsandmusthaveequalopportu-nities todevelop themselves to thegreatestpossibleextent.Ifpupilscandeveloptheirtalents,theyimprovetheirchancesonthelabourmarket.Butitisnotalwaysevident to identify talent. Indeed, tracking talent notonlyrequireseducationtocarryoutstructuralchangesbutalsoasksforaculturalswitchthatcannotbeim-posedbythecentrallevel.Thatiswhythegovernmentlaunchedthesystemoftesting grounds.

Itisaboutprojectsoflocalschoolsorschoolsgroupson talent development. For a limited period of time,

schools can ‘experiment’ in an environment with fewregulations.Thethemesofthesetestinggroundsare:‘technology’, ‘learningdifferently’and‘choosingdiffer-ently’.Anothergroupoftestinggroundsarerelatedtostudyandcareerchoiceontheonehandandworkplacelearningontheotherhand.ThesearetwothemesfromtheCompetenceAgenda(see5.3).These testinggroundsarenotonly interestingexam-ples of good practice which other schools can learnfrombutalsocontainalotofinformationfortheleg-islator. The experience in part-time education centreswithtestinggroundswasforexampleveryinspiringforthenewFlemishParliamentActon‘learningandwork-ing’(see3.3.3).

matchingeducationtolabourmarketneeds


5.2 Modularisation

Themodularisationexperiment isdesignedforpupilsattending vocationally-oriented training courses (bso,dbso,busoOV3).It focuses in the first instance on vocational trainingcourses leading to an occupational qualification. Thecontentsofthemodulesarederivedfromthejobde-scriptionsdrawnupbythesocialpartners.Vocationaltrainingcoursesareorganisedforindividualstudyareasandareindependentofstagesoryearsofstudy.Withinanareaofstudy,thepupilchoosesfromthedifferentvocationalcourses(learningpathways)de-finedbythegovernment.Thelearningpathwayconsistsofoneormoremodules.Foreachmodulethatthepupilcompletes,hereceivesamodularcertificaterecognisedbythegovernment.Oncethe learnerhassuccessfullycompleted the training, he will be issued with a cer-tificate.

Modular vocational courses are a first step in theeliminationofbarriersbetweentheeducationformsascoursesareidenticalincontentforbso,dbsoandbusoOV3.Moreover,thereplacementofyearsofstudyandstages by learning pathways that are identical to alleducationforms,makestheeducationprovisionmoretransparent.

Amodularstructuremakes itpossible for the interimsuccessesoflearnerstobeexpressedin(modular)cer-tificates,thusenhancingtheirchancesofenteringthelabourmarket.Thiscombatsunqualifiedschool-leavingandatthesametimetheexperiencesofsuccessgivepupilsstrongmotivationforlifelonglearning.Inthemodularisationexperiment,elementsofgeneraleducationareintegratedasfaraspossibleinthevo-cationalcontext.Inadditiontoavocationalcertificate,allpupilsmaygainoneormoreofthefollowingcertifi-cates/diplomas:

• acertificateofthe2ndstageofsecondaryeduca-tion;

• astudycertificateofthe2ndyearofthe3rdstageofsecondaryeducation;

• adiplomaofsecondaryeducation.

Modularisationisalsolinkedtotheintegrationofinno-vativevisionsofeducationandneweducationmethodssuch as ‘integrated teaching’, ‘differentiated teaching‘and‘teamteaching’.

5.3 the competence Agenda

TheCompetenceAgenda2010containstenactionpro-grammesmobilisingliterallyeveryonetodiscover,de-velop and deploy talents. Four out of the ten actionprogrammes focusspecificallyonasmooth transitionfromeducationtoemployment.

Afirstactionprogrammeconcentratesonguidingpupilsinmakingastudy and career choice.BoththeschoolsandthepupilguidancecentreswilljointheirforceswiththeFlemishPublicEmploymentService(VDAB)inorderto thoroughly inform pupils and parents. This actionprogrammeincludesthefollowingconcretemeasures:

• Astructuralfinancingofthe‘Beroepenhuis’(HouseofProfessions)from2008onwards.

TheBeroepenhuisoffersinformationonprofessionsandcoursesofstudythatmainlyleadtotechnicalorpracticalprofessions.

• Aninvestmentprogrammefortherenewalandse-curityofbasicequipmentintechnicalschools.

Thisnotonlyenhancesthequalityofthistypeofeducationbutalsoimprovesitsimage.

• Abudgetforthepromotionofhigh-demandprofes-sions.

Pupilswhochooseatrainingleadingtoahigh-de-mandprofession,receiveagrant.

A second action programme aims at the systematicandstructuraldevelopmentofworkplace learning.Thesocialpartnerscommittedthemselvestoprovidingan-nually75.000workplacementsforpupilsoftechnicalsecondary education and vocational secondary edu-cation. From the2006-2007school year, allpupils inbsocompleteaworkplacementinthesixthyear.Theintention is to also provide work placements for tsotrainingcourses.Atwww.stageforum.beofferanddemandofregulatedworkplacementsandofworkplacelearn-ing jobs can find each other under supervision. Notonlypupilsbutalsoteacherswillgettheopportunitytoparticipate in ‘workplace learning’ forpracticalandtechnicalcourses.Furthermore, the Regional Technological Centres arecalledontomobilise‘bridgebuilders’forbettertailoringtheprovisionofschools to theneedsof thebusinessworld.Finally,thedifferentsystemsofalternatelearningandworking(part-timevocationalsecondaryeducation,apprenticeshipandpart-timetraining)areharmonisedinordertoensurefullengagementofallpupils.

Improving the process of making a good study andcareerchoiceandimplementingworkplace learning isachievedin41testinggrounds(see5.1).



Athirdactionprogrammeaimsattheimprovementanddevelopmentofa sense of entrepreneurship.Thevirtualknowledgecentre forentrepreneurshiptrainingof theFlemishGovernment, Competento,wasestablished in2006withinSyntraVlaanderen.Itcontainsaninventoryofexistingtoolsandtechniquestocultivateasenseofentrepreneurshipandenterpriseineducation.

In conclusion, a fourth action programme focuses onstrengtheningthe accreditation of experiential learning (APEL).APELexpandstheavailabletalentpoolbyvali-datingcompetencies,independentlyoftheplacewhereor the way in which they were acquired. In order tounderpintheAPELpolicyonthelabourmarketandineducation,thefollowingactionsareplanned:

• The further introduction and strengthening of thepolicyonAPELintertiaryeducation.

• The launch of certificate supplements. The certifi-catesupplementisadocument,whichtheindivid-ualreceivestogetherwiththecertificate(proof )ofthevocational courseshehasattendedandgoeswiththeEuropeanportfolioEuropass.Itcomprisesadescriptionofthecompetencies,whichtheholderofthequalificationcertificatehasacquired.

• ThepromotionofAPELpracticesinadulteducationthroughtheprovisionofbetterservicesbytheadulteducationcentresforshorterlearningpathways.Theadulteducationcentrewillalsoactasatestcentrefortheacquisitionofacertificateofexperience.

• OptimisationoftheAPELpolicyofpubliceducationproviders (VDAB, Syntra) and harmonisation witheducation.

• TherecognitionofthecertificateofexperienceandthecounsellingofatestcentreinAPELpracticesofeducationandtrainingproviders.

AFlemishParliamentActisinpreparationthatwillin-troduceaco-ordinatedFlemish qualification structure.Thekeygoalistoensuretransparencyinqualifications.Inaunivocalway,adescriptionismadeofthecompe-tenciesrequiredforaccesstoaparticularprofessionorfortransitiontoaparticulartraining.Itisatool,whichpromotescommunicationbetweeneducationandworkbecause the same framework is used for the needsof the labourmarketandtheobjectivesofa trainingprogramme.Ifpeopleseekajoborconsiderchangingjobsorstartingatrainingprogramme,thequalificationstructurewillshowwhichcompetenciesareneededtothatend.Onthebasisofaportfolioand/orcompetencyexamination,itcanbecheckedwhichcompetenciesthecandidateshaveandwhicharestilllackingforobtain-ingaqualification.Thatiswhythequalificationstruc-turewillplayaroleinguidingstudyandcareerchoicesandlatercareersofpeople.

5.4 Higher vocational education (Hbo)

Previously, higher vocational education comprisedthosetrainingcoursesofadulteducation(seealso3.6)butisextendedwitha7thspecialistyearintsoandksoandthefourthstagesofbso.Allthosecoursesareveryimportantforthelabourmarket.Infuture,notonlyadulteducationcentresbutalsosec-ondaryschoolsandcollegesofhighereducationwillbeallowedtoorganisesuchcoursesofhighervocationaleducation.Typicalofthosecoursesisthecloseco-op-erationwiththeprofessionalsectors.Moreover,work-placelearningplaysakeyroleinthesecourses.Thosecourses will also distinguish themselves by creatingtransparentandflexiblepathways (seealso5.5).Thecoursesofhighervocationaleducationdonotonlyfo-cusonimmediateemployabilityonthelabourmarket.Highervocationaleducationcanalsobeasteptowardsaprofessionalbachelor.



5.5 Lifelong learning

Lifelongandlife-widelearningisacontinuousprocessinwhichthelearnersacquirethenecessaryknowledgeandcompetenciestobettercopewiththeirprofession-al,socialandculturaltasksinafastchangingsociety.As theneedsof the labourmarketarechangingatarapidpace, lifelong learning isneededtomeetthoserequirements.Thegovernmentstimulatesthedesiretolearnbypro-viding learning contents and learning situations fromprimary up to higher education, which cultivate theskills for lifelong learning. In order to develop andmaintain a positive attitude to lifelong learning, it isessential tohaveexperiencesof successon theway.

Therefore, attention is being paid to the continuedmodularisation(see5.2)ofeducationatalllevels.Alsohigher educationisplacingamoreexplicitemphasisonthelifelonglearningperspectivebyaflexibleorganisa-tionofeducation.

InFlanders,variousformsofflexibilisationhavealreadybeen laid down by law: including transition betweencoursesthroughbridgingortransferprogrammes,rec-ognitionofcompetenciesacquiredearlieroninlife,dis-tancelearning,ICTintegration,eveningcourses,mobil-ityprogrammes,duallearningpathways,…Educationalinstitutionsaretakingmoreandmoreinitiativesforthepurposeofcreatingamoreflexibleeducationsystem.



Oneofthemainobjectivesofopen distance educationforexampleismakingtheeducationalprovisionacces-sibletoasmanyadultsaspossiblebytakingtheirwayof livingandworldofexperience intoaccount to themaximumextent.Opendistanceeducationisorganisedinaveryflexibleway.

Variouscombinationsoflearningandworking,whetherinpart-timeorinanalternatingform,canalsofacilitatethetransitionfromlearningtoworkingandvice-versa.SomeFlemisheducationalinstitutionshavemadecon-creteeffortstointroducedual learning pathwaysintheeducationprovision,e.g.themastercourseininforma-tion technology. This new learning trajectory consistsofabroadspecialistacademictraininglinkedtoacon-siderableandrelevantworkexperience.Studentsworkandstudyat thesametime. Inconsultationwith thestudent, the company and the training provider, the

workdoneinthecompanycanbevalorisedforobtain-ingadiploma.Inaddition,thestudenthastopassalimitednumberoftests.Suchalearningtrajectoryhastheadvantagethat thegraduatehasachievedahighentrylevelandisbetterqualifiedtostarttoworkim-mediatelyatacademiclevel.The‘Trainingfortrainersofadultlearners’projectisanotherexampleofhowduallearningpathwayscanbettertailortheeducationalpro-visiontothedemandsofthelabourmarket.Aimingatthecontinuedprofessionalisationoftrainersofadults,duallearningpathwaysareofferedallowingcoursepar-ticipants toacquire competencies,bothby classroomandonthejobtraining.Many valuable experiments have been developed inwhichpart-timepathwaysincombinationwiththerec-ognition of qualifications and competencies acquiredelsewhereleadtoafull-fledgeddiplomaineducation,nursingorsocialwork.


6. Education policy and social dEvElopMEnts

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Inviewofthesocialchallenges,educationpolicymak-ersplacevaryingemphases,theconnectingthreadbe-ingtheimplementationofequalopportunitiesinedu-cation.

6.1 Pupil grants and student grants

TheFlemishCommunitygivesfinancialsupporttopu-pilsandstudentswhocomefromfinanciallydeprivedfamilies.Naturally,studyfinancingisnotnew.Butlegis-lationonitisregularlyupdated.Thoseadjustmentsen-surethatallyoungpeoplearegivenfullopportunitiesin the field of training and intellectual development,regardlessof their origin, financial situationor socialandculturalenvironment.In2007,legislationwasadjusted.Adistinctionismadebetween the term ‘pupil grant’ and the term ‘studentgrant’. Apupil grant isawardedtopupils innursery,primaryandsecondaryeducation,whileastudent grant isawardedtostudentsinhighereducation.TheFlemishParliamentActincludesthefollowinginnovations:

• the same income limits forhigher, secondaryandnurseryandprimaryeducation

Thefinancialconditionsforaccesstostudyfinancinginnursery,primary,secondaryandhighereducationwerebroughtintoline.Ifanolderbrotherorsisterinhighereducationisentitledtoagrant,alsopossibleyoungerbrothersand/orsistersinsecondary,nurseryorprimaryeducationareeligibleforagrant.Inthepast,thiswasnotalwaysthecase.Asthelegalbasisisnowidentical,parentscansubmitasinglefamilyfileforallchildren.

• increaseofthegrantamounts

Duetotherelaxationofthefinancialconditionsforac-cess,morepeoplewillbeeligible forstudyfinancingand,inaddition,theamountsareincreased.

• pupilgrantandregularschoolattendance

What isnewisthattherighttoapupilgrant isnowbeinglinkedtoschoolattendance.Apupilplayingtru-antalotfortwoyearsinarow,canloosehisrighttoapupilgrant.ThismeasureisincludedintheAnti-truancycampaign(see6.2).

• extensionofthepupilgrantstonurseryandprimaryeducationandpart-timevocationaleducation(fromthe2008-2009schoolyear).

From15August2008onwards,apupilgrant forpre-schoolersandprimarypupilsmaybeappliedfor. Justlike insecondaryeducation,pre-schoolersandpupilsmustattendclassesregularlyinordertobeawardedapupilgrant.Fromthesamedate,alsopupilsinpart-timevocationaleducationareeligibleforapupilgrant.

• changesinthenationalitycondition

NotonlyBelgiansareeligibleforstudyfinancing.PupilsandstudentswitharesidencepermitlivinginBelgiumfor some time or recognised refugees, can apply forstudyfinancingfromnowon.

• Changesineducationalconditions

Youngpeoplewhohavebecomeofage(andasaresultare no longer subject to compulsory education) con-tinuetobeentitledtoapupilgrant,eveniftheydidnotpassthepreviousyear.Buttheyhavetobeenrolledinfull-timeeducation.Thisrightappliesuptoandin-cludingtheschoolyearinwhichthepupilreachestheageof22.Thisagelimitisnotapplicabletothefourthstageofvocationalsecondaryorspecialeducation.

Anadjustmentofeducationalconditionsisalsoneededinhighereducation.Asaresultofthecontinuedflexi-

educationpolicyandsocialdevelopments


bilisationofhighereducation,studentscanchangethecourseortrainingleadingtoadegreemoreoftenandmoreeasilythanbefore.Aphysicsstudent,forexample,canswitchtoapharmacytrainingcoursewithoutanyproblem.But,inthatcase,studentsbenefitingfromastudentgrantmustusetheir“joker”grantbecausesuchachangeinstudiesisseenasadelayingraduation.AnewFlemishParliamentActonthismatterisinprepara-tion.Itstipulatesthatstudyprogresswillfromnowonbedeterminedbythenumberofstudycreditswhichthestudentgainedinthepreviousacademicyear.IfthisActisadopted,studentswillonlyhavetousetheir jokergrantiftheyhavenotpassedtheirexam.

For up-to-date information on this future legislation,pleaseconsult:www.studietoelagen.be

Inaddition, thesiteofferscomprehensive informationon the conditions and procedures to apply for studyfinancing.

Annually, the Study Grants Division receives approxi-mately150.000applications,ofwhichnearlyonethirdforhighereducationandtherestforsecondaryeduca-tion.Eachyear, thegovernmentspendssome69mil-lioneurotostudyfinancing.Ofthis,almost57millioneuroisallocatedtohighereducation.Studyexpensesinhighereducationareconsiderablyhigherthaninsec-ondaryeducation.Thenewactwillleadtoanincreaseinnumbersofapplications:thereisapotentialgrowthfrom123.000filesto273.000familyfiles.In order to simplify administrative processing of ap-plications, a new software programme was launchedwhichallowstheintegrationofinformationfromcentraldatabases,suchasthedwellingsdatabasecontainingdata on family composition… The citizen only has todelivertheinformationthatcannotbefoundincentraldatabases.Bothforhigherandsecondaryeducation,applicationscanbemadeonline.Fromthe2008-2009schoolyear,thiswillalsobepossiblefornurseryandprimaryeducation.

6.2 Anti-truancy campaign

Youngpeopleplaying truantare less likely tohaveasuccessful educational career with a qualification oncompletionoftheircourseofstudy. Truancy also interferes with the effective operationofa school. Ifparentsare late inenrolling their chil-drenatthestartoftheschoolyear(andthusdonotrespect regulations on compulsory education), classgroupshavetobereshuffledandpupilsneedtocatchuponlessons.Moreover,truantsareoftensociallyde-privedpupilsand/orpupilshavinglearningdifficultiesatschool.Preciselythesepupilshavethemosttogainfromadiploma.The integratedanti-truancycampaigntackles this ‘inequality of chances’. These efforts aresustained through a close co-operation between vari-ousactorsandsectors.Thetruancyproblemisindeedthesharedresponsibilityofyoungpeopleandparents,butalsoofschoolsandCLBs.Themanyactorsoutsideeducation,suchasthewelfaresector,themedicalsec-tor, the local authorities, police and justice…can alsocontributetheirmite.Thecampaignencompassesthewholecontinuumfromawareness-raisingandprovidinginformationonpreven-tionandguidancetosanctions.

Onwww.ond.vlaanderen.be/leerplicht,alotofbackgroundinformation can be found about truancy, the anti-tru-ancycampaignandtheroleofdifferentactors.



6.3 Participation of pre-schoolers

AcomparativestudyoftheOECD(OrganisationforEco-nomicCo-operationandDevelopment)expresslypraisestheFlemishnurseryschoolasa‘model’forothercoun-tries.Incomparisontoothercountries,participationofpre-schoolersineducationisveryhighinFlanders.

However,therearestillchildrenwhoarenotenrolledinanurseryschoolorwhodonotattendschoolregularly.Theyareoftendeprivedchildrenwhoarenotreachedbycareproviders.Thesechildreninparticularhaveanextraneedforeducationalstimulationprovidedbyedu-cation.Childrenstartingprimaryeducationwithouthav-ing attended nursery school often are disadvantagedin learningor in languageskills.Participationofpre-schoolers is needed in order to guarantee equal op-portunitiesineducationforeachchild.

Thegovernmentstimulatestheparticipationofallpre-schoolersineducationby:

• Raising awareness in co-operation with differentpartners,suchas‘KindenGezin’.

• Theintroductionofamaximuminvoicesystem(see2.2)andpupilgrants(see6.1).

• Animprovementofthesystemofpre-schoolentryclasses,sothatschoolsaremorequicklyeligibleforapre-schoolentryclass.

• The organisation of more GOK teaching periods inschoolsattendedbyhighnumbersofpre-schoolersmeetingtheequalopportunitiesindicators(see2.4).

• Recruitment of a care+ staff member per schoolscluster.Thisstaffmemberdesignsapolicyonpre-schooler participation, aiming at young childrenwho are not enrolled as well as on enrolled pre-schoolerswhoattendschoolonanirregularbasis.

• Secondlinesupportofferingsupportfortheeduca-tionalanddidacticalactionsofpre-schoolteacherswhohavealotofnon-Dutchspeakingpre-schoolersintheirclassgroup.

6.4 Health policy

Childrencanbestimulatedtohealthylivingatschool.Theschool’sroleisessential,inparticularfordeprivedchildren.Health isnonew themeatFlemishschools.Developmental objectives and attainment targets de-fine what pupils must know about health and whichcompetencies they must have in order to live in ahealthyandfitway.But inhealthpromotingschools,childrennot only learnwhat is healthy, they alsodothings that are healthy. By taking various purpose-ful actions and measures, a health promoting schoolensures thathealthychoicesareobvious.Broadsup-portisnecessaryfortheimplementationofaneffectivehealthpolicy.Thisasksforinvolvementofpupils,par-entsandotherpartners.Forexample,thesmokingbanwasonlyintroducedfollowingabroadconsensusandtheunanimousadviceoftheFlemishEducationCouncil(inwhichpupilsandparentshaveaseat)tothegovern-ment.Thesmokingbanappliesasof1September2008andisapplicabletopupils,teachers,parents,usersandvisitorsoftheschoolsandCLBs.

Ahealthpromoting school involvesdifferentpartnersin itshealthpolicy.Bygivingpupilsasay,they learntoassume responsibility for theirownhealthand forthe health of others. The participation of parents inthehealthpolicyincreasesthesupportforpursuingahealthylifestyle.

A school itself determines its health policy but it issupportedinthisrespectbydifferentpartnerssuchastheCLBs.CLBsareintendedforindividualproblemsitu-ationsandcanhelpanalysingdatathatareimportant



forthehealthpolicytobeconducted.CLBsmaydesignaprovisionpromotinghealthinordertosupportpar-ents,pupilsandschoolstaff.CLBsarelegallyobligedtofacilitatenetworkingandthusarebestplacedtoreferpupilstospecialisedservices(see4.1).

www.gezondopschool.be

6.5 Aiming high for languages

As a rule, children who master the school languagewellbecausetheyspeakitathome,performbetteratschool.Acorrectandclearlanguageuseisattheba-sisofclearthinkingandprecisioninformulatingideas.Bothareextremelyimportantforthelearningprocess.Someonewhospeaksfluentlywillbeabletodevelophimself in various fields and has sufficient resourcesavailabletofindajoborenterintohighereducation.In order to create equal opportunities in education,schools must work on language skills both in Dutchandinforeignlanguages.Agoodlanguagepolicyistheconcernofeachteacher,eachschoolstaff,eachschool.NotonlytheteacherofDutchbutalsotheteacherofhistory,accountancy,me-chanics,…devotesattentiontotheDutchlanguagebyusing clear definitions anddescribing assignments inaclearway.Inordertoguaranteequalityeducationatalllevelsofeducation,languageskillswereintegratedin thebasic competenciesofall teacher trainingpro-grammes(see6.7).Inthismultilingualcountry,schoolsmustalsopromotethe knowledge of foreign languages.A sound knowl-edgeofforeignlanguagesenhancesthechancesofpro-fessionalsuccessofpupilsonthestronglyglobalisedlabour market and stimulates them in their personaldevelopment.

FromEUROSTATfiguresitappearsthatgeneralsecond-aryeducation inFlandersalreadyoffersawiderangeofforeignlanguagesincomparisonwithotherEUcoun-tries.However,theprovisionofforeignlanguagesisnotlimitedtothelevelofsecondaryeducation.Awareness-raisingon foreign languagesalreadystarts innurseryschoolthroughsongsandrhymes.NurseryandprimaryschoolscanworkonaplayfulinitiationintoFrenchandprepareinthiswaytheFrenchcoursesofthethird(inBrussels)andthefifthform(elsewhereinFlanders).By learninga languageatschool,pupilsdonotonlygainlanguageproficiencybutalsotheskillstolearnalanguage.AgoodcommandofDutchandofoneormoreforeignlanguagesisasolidbasistolearnotherforeignlanguageslaterinlife.TheEUalsopromotes‘ContentandLanguageIntegratedLearning’orCLIL:pupilslearnasubject through themediumofa foreign language.Nine Flemish secondary schools embarked upon thisprojectfromthe2007-2008schoolyear.Approximately15%ofthetotalnumberofteachingperiodsarepro-videdinaCLILlanguage(FrenchorEnglish).

6.6 Learning support

Learningsupportreformseducationprovidedtopupilshaving special educational needs. Learning supportaimsatbetterdefiningtheexistingspecialneedspro-vision inmainstreamand special education. Learningsupportcreatesmoreopportunitiesforpupilswithspe-cialeducationalneedstoattendclassesinanordinaryschool.Learningsupportalsoenhances theprovisioninspecialeducation.Thecurrenttypologyisoftentoonarrowandtheprovisionisunequallyspreadthrough-outFlanders.Pupilsoftenhavetospendalongtimeonthebustogettoschoolandbackhomeagain,there-foreparents ‘choose’boardingschool in somecases.



Youngpeopledonotalwaysgetthecaretheyneedbuthavetoadaptthemselvestotheprovision.The learning support matrixcreatesatailoredprovisiontomeettheneedsofparticularpupils.

Thelearningsupportconcepthastwoangles:levels of learning supportandclusters/target groupsofspecialeducationalneeds.

The4 levels of learning supportdescribehowtheeduca-tionalenvironmentadaptsitselftothepupils’needs.

The first two levels of learning support are providedinmainstreamschools.Pupilsfunctionwithinthejointcurriculumandobtainthemainstreamdiplomaorcer-tificate.AtlearningsupportlevelsIIIandIVpupilsre-ceiveanindividualisedcurriculumandschoolsworkonthebasisofanindividualeducationplanforthepupils.Individualgoalsarefocusedonandpupilsaregrantedanalternativecertificate.AtthelearningsupportlevelIIIpupilscanfollowbothmainstreamandspecialedu-cation.Inthis,schoolsinmainstreameducationreceivethesamesupportasschools inspecialeducation.AtlearningsupportlevelIVpupilsinprinciplefollowspe-cial education. It is intended for pupils with seriousormultipleproblemswhocannotbetakencareofbyordinaryschools.

Theseconddimensionof the learningsupportmatrixconsistsofclusters.Theyare related tochildcharac-teristics, to disorders or impairments with which thechildortheyoungpersonisconfronted.Fourclusters,comprisingdifferenttargetgroups,replacetheeightex-istingtypesofspecialeducation.

Cluster 1includesbothallpupilswithoutparticipationproblems in education and those pupils with partici-pation problems resulting from temporary situations,personalcharacteristics(e.g.non-nativespeakingchil-dren)ororigin.Itconcernspupilswhohavenoinherentdisorderorimpairment.

Cluster 2includespupilswithlearningimpairments.Itconcernstwotargetgroups:

• childrenwithamildmentaldisability;• pupilswithalearningdisability.

Cluster 3includespupilswithfunctionalimpairments.Itconcernsthefollowingtargetgroups:

• pupilswithamoderate,severeorprofoundmentaldisability;

• pupilswithamotordisability;• pupilswithavisualimpairment;• childrenwithahearingimpairment;

Cluster 4comprisespupilswhohaveparticipationprob-lemsineducation.Thoseparticipationproblemsrevealthemselves in social interaction. Within cluster 4 thefollowingtargetgroupscanbedistinguished:

• pupilswithabehaviouraland/oremotionaldisorder;• pupilswithapervasivedevelopmentdisorder(e.g.

autism).

Bycombining levelsandclustersof learningsupport,a ‘matrix’ is created with fields which make differentformsoftailoredlearningsupportpossible.Theprocessofchoosingthemostsuitablesupportlevelof thematrix forapupil isdonebytheCLB incloseconsultationwiththeschool,theparentsandthepupilhim.The implementation of the learning support matrixstartsfrom1September2009.Thefullimplementationisscheduledfor2015-2016.Formoreinformationonlearningsupport:www.ond.vlaanderen.be/leerzorg

6.7 teacher training reform

Inordertogiveallpupilsequalopportunitiestoaccesshighqualityeducation,goodteachersareneeded.Thatiswhyteachertrainingwasradicallyreformed.Therearetwotypesofteachertrainingcourses:

• The three-year training programme for nurseryteacher,primaryteacherorlowersecondaryteacheristhe integrated teacher trainingof180credits.Onecreditcorrespondswith25to30hoursofstudentload.Acompleteacademicyearcomprises60cred-its.Inthistraining,aworkplacementof45creditsisincluded.Thistrainingprogrammeisprovidedasaprofessionalbachelorcoursebycollegesofhighereducation.

• In addition, there is a specific teacher training courseof60credits,ofwhich30creditsarespenton the work placement. This training is meantfor students who have already gained a diplomain higher or adult education and who only neededucational/pedagogicaltrainingintheirdiscipline.These courses are provided by universities, adulteducationcentresandforthefirsttimealsobycol-legesofhighereducation.

Thecontentofthetrainingcourseswasreinforced.Inthe integrated secondary teacher training, studentsmustspecialisenowin2insteadofin3subjectmat-ters. This allows a more in-depth study and createsroomfornewcentresof interestsuchasthecareforpupils with special needs, familiarisation with other



cultures and linguistic skills. For specific courses thecurriculumisreinforcedandextendedbyincreasingthestudentworkloadto60credits.Boththeintegratedandthespecificteachertrainingarebasedonthesamesetofbasiccompetenciesateachershouldhave(e.g.linguisticskills).Theyalsoleadbothtothesamediploma,namelyofteacher.Thereformpaysalotofattentiontothepractical ex-perienceoffutureteachersasforbothteachertrainingprogrammestheworkplacementbecomesmoreimpor-tant.Collegesofhighereducationorganisethepracti-calcomponentinco-operationwithschools,centresorinstitutionsintheformofpre-service training.Theworkplacementisthusaccomplishedwithoutastatutoryre-lationwiththeschool,institutionorthecentre.Inspecificteachertraining,thepracticalcomponentisprovidedaspre-service trainingor in-service training.Thein-servicetrainingtakestheshapeofaninductionperiod(aLIOjob)andtakesplaceinoneormorein-stitutionsofsecondaryeducation,part-timeartseduca-tionoradulteducation.Inordertoguaranteethetutoringoftraineeteachersandnewlyqualifiedteachers,schoolsclusterscanap-point tutors. They are experienced teachers who canspend part of their teaching assignment on the sup-portoftraineeteachers,inductionteachers(LIOs)andbeginningteachers.Colleges and/or universities can conclude an agree-mentwithadulteducationcentresontheorganisationof teacher education: education and study activities,qualitycontrolandtheuseofinfrastructure.Theseco-operationnetworksare callednetworksofexpertsorregionalplatformsandarefinanciallysupportedbythegovernment.

6.8 study credits

Fromthe2008-2009academicyear,eachstudentofaFlemishcollegeofhighereducationoruniversitystartswithastudycreditof140credits.Thisstudycreditisdecreasedbythenumberofcreditsforwhichthestu-

dentenrols.Inprinciple,anenrolmentinafullacadem-ic year consists of a number of training componentsvaluing60credits.Attheendoftheyear,thenumberof credits which the student gained are added againtothestudycredit.Thefirst60creditsearnedbythestudent,aredoubled.

Thestudycredit ismeant toslowdown theclassicalcascade effect (aiming high and possibly adjust ex-pectations downwards) and stimulate young peopletomakeaninformedstudychoice.Ifthestudycreditis zero, an enrolment is only possible with the con-sentoftheinstitutionandtheinstitutionisallowedtoincrease the enrolment fee (at maximum doubling offee).Theintroductionofstudycreditsfits inwiththenewfinancingschemeofhighereducation.From2008onwards,fundingisnotonlybasedonthenumberofenrolledstudents.Italsotakesthenumberofsuccess-fulstudentsandthenumberofgraduatesintoaccount(=output).Justlikeforstudycredits,studyprogressofstudentsiscentraltothisoutputfunding.Studycreditsandoutputfundingstimulatebothstudentsandeduca-tionalinstitutionstotaketheirresponsibilityforchoicesandsuccessofstudies.

Oncethestudentisawardedamasterdegree,140cred-itsaredeductedfromthestudycredit.Astudentwhowants to obtain a master or bachelor diploma after-wards, must do so at his own expense. In this way,the government, despite its limitedbudget,wants togiveeveryonethechancetoobtainamasterdiploma.The study credit system does not apply to bachelor-after-bachelorormaster-after-mastercourses.Itisonlyapplicable to initial courses under diploma contractandcreditcontracts.However,theintroductionofstudycredits isalso related to thenew fundingsystem forcollegesanduniversities.Previously, institutionswerefundedaccording to thenumberofenrolledstudents(=input). From 2008 onwards, funding is not onlybasedonthenumberofenrolledstudentsbutalsoonthenumberofsuccessfulstudentsandthenumberofgraduates(=output).


6.9 rational energy use (reg)

Rationalenergyuseisimportantforschoolsandcentresasinthiswaymoreresourcescanbespentonthecon-tentofeducation.Moreover,schoolsandcentresfulfilanexemplaryrole.Ifschoolswanttoimbuetheirpupilswiththe importanceof rationalenergyuse, thentheymustapplyitthemselves.

A solid policy on rational energy use asks for a bal-ancedmixofinvestmentsandorganisationalmeasures.An energy saving heating installation is not useful ifitisstillturnedoninemptyclassrooms.Thatiswhythegovernmentpromotesthedevelopmentofaneffec-tivepolicyonrationalenergyuse.Existingschoolsareawardedmoreresourcestoinvestinrenovationandinadaptationof infrastructure.Theaimforschools istoappointanenergycoordinatortoensurethecontinuityofREGmeasures.Moreover,thegovernmentpromotes,throughawareness-raisingcampaignsandgrants,thosemeasures,whicharerelativelycheapbutleadtoimpor-tantsavingsintheshortrun:

• keepinganenergybookkeeping;• theexecutionofanenergyaudit;• thecorrectadjustmentofheatingsystems;• …

Fornewschoolbuildings, the recentE70directiveonenergy efficiency is applicable. Passive schools takethingsastepfurtherthanE70schools.Passiveschoolsaresoenergyefficientthattheyhardlyneedanyheatingatall.Undoubtedly,passiveschoolsaretheschoolsofthefuture.ThatiswhyFlemisheducationwillconductanumberofpilotprojectsinthefieldofpassiveschools.Duetotheconstructionoftheseexemplaryprojects,themarketforpassivebuildingproductsexpands.Alsotheexperienceofarchitects,studybureausandcontractorsin thefieldofpassivebuildingwill strongly increase.Thetotalconstructionpriceofpassiveschoolsandoth-erpassivebuildingswillthereforebereduced.

Seewww.agion.beandwww.energiesparen.be

��/ educationpolicyandsocialdevelopments


Flemish Ministry of Education and Trainingwww.ond.vlaanderen.be—

Education InfolineKoningAlbertII-laan15-1210Brusselstel1700(freeofcharge)orfromabroad+3225531700-fax+3225539655

e-mail:www.ond.vlaanderen.be/infolijn—

Support Centre for parents and children in nursery and primary educationAgentschap voor Onderwijsdiensten (AGODI – Agency for Educa-tional Services)

KoningAlbertII-laan15-1210Brusseltel+3225530415-fax+3225539385e-mail:[email protected]—

Information Centre for parents and children in secondary educationAgentschap voor Onderwijsdiensten (AgODi)

KoningAlbertII-laan15-1210Brusseltel+3225538729-fax+3225538725e-mail:[email protected]—

Study Grants DivisionAgentschap voor Hoger Onderwijs, Volwassenenonderwijs en Studietoelagen (AHOVOS - Agency for Higher Education, Adult Education and Study Grants)

KoningAlbertII-laan15-1210Brusseltel1700(gratis)e-mail:[email protected]—

CLB UnitDepartement Onderwijs en Vorming (Department of Education and Training)

KoningAlbertII-laan15-1210Brusseltel+3225538694-fax+3225538685e-mail:[email protected]/clb—

Het Spijbelteam (The Anti-truancy Team)Departement Onderwijs en Vorming (Department of Education and Training)

KoningAlbertII-laan15-1210Brusseltel+3225538683-fax+3225538685e-mail:[email protected]/leerplicht—

Cel Publicaties Onderwijs (Educational Publications Unit)Agentschap voor Onderwijscommunicatie (AOC - Agency for Educational Communication)

KoningAlbertII-laan15-1210Brusseltel+3225536653-fax+3225536654e-mail:[email protected]/publicaties

KlasseKoningAlbertII-laan15-1210Brusseltel+3225539686-fax+3225539685e-mail:[email protected]—

Coördinerend Inspecteur-generaal (Coordinating General Inspectorate)

KoningAlbertII-laan15-1210Brusseltel+3225539831e-mail:[email protected]—

CurriculumDepartement Onderwijs en Vorming (Department of Education and Training)

KoningAlbertII-laan15-1210Brusseltel+3225538831e-mail:[email protected]/DVO—

EPOS vzw - Nationaal Agentschap LLP (National LLP Agency)

KoningAlbertIIlaan15-1210Brusseltel+3225539867-fax+3225539880e-mail:[email protected]—

Voorrangsbeleid Brussel vzw (npo Brussels Policy on educational priorities)

KoningAlbertII-laan15-1210Brusseltel+3225539362e-mail:[email protected]—

Vlaamse Onderwijsraad (VLOR - Flemish Education Council)Kunstlaan6,bus6-1210Brusseltel+3222194299-fax+3222198118e-mail:[email protected]—

Vlaamse Interuniversitaire Raad ( VLIR - Flemish Interuniversity Council )

Ravensteingalerij27-1000Brusseltel+3227925500-fax+3222114199e-mail:[email protected]—

Vlaamse Hogescholenraad(VLHORA - Flemish Council for Non University Higher Education)

Wolvengracht38/2-1000Brusseltel+3222114190-fax+3222114199e-mailviawww.vlhora.be

usEFul addrEssEs

For more information on the themes dealt with in this brochure, please consult www.ond.vlaanderen.be or contact the education infoline by dialling 1700.

in addition to this brochure, the Flemish Ministry of education and training publishes several other pub-lications. Please visit the website of the educational Publications unit for an overview: www.ond.vlaanderen.be/publicaties

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