French-speaking students protest against tuition fee hike

About 3,000 students have demonstrated in the centre of Brussels against a planned increase in tuition fees in French-speaking higher education.

The Wallonia-Brussels Federation announced last autumn that tuition fees in higher education would rise by almost 43%, from €835 to €1,194.

The MR and Les Engagés majority hope the tuition fee hike will reduce the French-speaking community’s budget deficit, but students are calling it "unacceptable".

Marie, a second-year psychology student at UCLouvain, told Bruzz she was worried about her parents, who will have to absorb the increase from September onwards.

“I’m not eligible for a grant,” she said. “This increase is unacceptable. Everything related to studying is getting more expensive, such as the cost of student accommodation, which rises every year. There are other ways to raise money.”

Paul, a student at the Brussels art college lnsas (Institut Supérieur des Arts), said the measure would “make higher art education inaccessible to some people”.

“This poses a risk to the future of the arts sector and reduces the diversity of profiles,” he added.

The increase, which has not yet been formally approved by parliament, is expected to come into force at the start of the next academic year and directly affect 58% of students in French-speaking higher education.

According to the Federation of French-speaking Students (FEF), this increase will create barriers that significantly undermine access to universities and colleges and heighten uncertainty among students.

Protestors marched to the headquarters of the French community government.

Along the way, they carried posters with messages such as "We want a future, not a bill" and chanted slogans including "More money for public education" and "Degryse, minister of exclusion".

Élisabeth Degryse (Les Engagés) is minister-president of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation and is also responsible for higher education.

Her chief of staff met a delegation of demonstrators, as Degryse herself was travelling in Norway with the royal couple.