Going local: The Bulletin's guide to the Belgian school system

For many expats, the heydays of cushy global packages, including often exorbitant fees for international schools are over. And an increasing number are staying long-term and opting for local schools.

“Initially, we looked at English-speaking schools, but my partner’s company wouldn’t pay,” says Rikke Dakin, a mother of two who has dual Danish and British nationality. She lives in Dutch-speaking Tervuren where local schools cite expat volumes of as much as 30%.

Whatever the reasons for going local, all expat parents face the same questions. Which school should I choose? Will the education meet our expectations? What are the implications for higher education?

Belgium has many types of schools, including commune-funded, provincial, method-based and Catholic. With such a wide range, there’s no substitute for investigating potentials on a case-by-case basis.

Catholic schools are prevalent. Many non-Catholics attend and traditional religious practices have waned. Note that most types of schools anyway base their compulsory religious education on Catholicism, the national religion, although laic (secular) lessons are always an option.

In Brussels, the choice is further complicated by language, with both French- and Dutch-speaking schools. While for some the choice is obvious depending on their plans or background, for others it’s another dilemma. Whichever you choose, your child will likely end up speaking both as lessons in the alternative are compulsory. If you arrive with older children, they will have to sit a language exam to assess which year they may join.

Learning through play

School starts at the age of two-and-a-half, and in the first three years the focus is on learning through play. It’s only from the age of six - compulsory school age - that formal learning kicks in. Some parents worry about this light approach in the early years. Others say that by six, all children are ready for formal learning, resulting in less pressure and fewer cases of stigmatising remedial classes.

“Let them be children and learn through play. They learn a lot,” says Dakin, who was apprehensive at first about the Belgian system but now says, “There’s not much I don’t like about it.”

Secondary education comprises four options. General education focuses on traditional academic subjects; technical schools and art schools are more vocational; job-based schooling is geared towards practical professions.

Mum-of-three Tatiana Nedvetskaya said the choice of schooling for her daughter, who will soon start senior school, was overwhelming, but she realised that in the end it makes sense. “All kids are different and that’s why it’s good they can choose,” she says. "My daughter was suited for the more academic general education and this particular school.”

All four streams are acceptable for entrance to Belgian university, although students following job-based schooling typically spend time out of school following apprenticeship-style courses and are required to repeat year seven. In practice, however, if your child wants to study more academic subjects at university they will need a good grounding during their secondary education.

Inflexible?

Belgium’s general schools are notoriously tough, with frequent exams and little scope for more flexible and creative project work. Children who fail must repeat the year. On the positive side, higher education is more accessible, albeit equally tough, especially in the first year.

“In Flemish schools, in things like maths, you have to get the basics. It’s not a lot of fun but they know much more at a younger age. It gives them more chance to go to university,” says Nedvetskaya.

For study abroad, the EU’s Bologna reforms have facilitated recognition of secondary school studies across Europe. Failing that, it’s possible to sit, for example, UK exams at an international school here as an external candidate.

Having a good grip on the local language opens up many opportunities for extra-curricular activities. “The kids can’t join any local activities if they don’t know the language,” says Nedvetskaya.

Her kids started in international school but soon moved to a local school. “We decided that we live here and it makes sense to put our kids in local school. If I could have chosen from the beginning, I would have chosen a Flemish school.”

Some expats who are here on short-term contracts see the loss of school fees in their packages as a big disappointment. For others, it’s a chance to integrate and embrace the local culture and give their kids stability. “I just really wanted my children to get the maximum cultural and linguistic advantages of life in Belgium and that’s not easily possible in an international school,” says one Brussels-based mum of four.

Primary and secondary education in Belgium

The school system in Belgium is structured on three levels – pre-school, primary and secondary – and includes children from the age of two-and-a-half up to 18. Education is split along language lines, so each of the three communities (French, Dutch and German) runs its own system. Education is compulsory from the age of six to 18, but children can also follow individual or collective home education.

In the Dutch-speaking communities (Flanders and Brussels), the term ‘basisonderwijs’ (basic education) refers to the combination of pre-school and primary school. In many cases, schools combine the two. It’s obligatory for every child starting in a Dutch-speaking school at the age of six to have spent at least 220 half-days in a pre-school of the system, to ensure they have the required language proficiency.

Places at Dutch-speaking primary schools in Brussels are becoming scarce due to a population increase and the growing desire of non- Dutch-speaking families to send their children to Dutch-speaking schools. There has been some investment in extending the capacity of schools. To prevent parents setting up camp at schools so they can register, the Flemish government encourages school boards to set up telephone and online systems allowing parents to sign up for a number of schools in order of preference.

Over the past few years, the Flemish government has invested attention and funds to promote the Stem subjects – science, technology, engineering and maths – and to make up the Flemish region’s shortfall in the numbers of qualified workers in technical, engineering and scientific posts by 2020. There is a particular focus on girls, as they remain a minority in these subjects.

In French-speaking Brussels and Wallonia, schools are similarly divided into those run by public authorities and those described as free. Among the free group, schools may be confessional or non-confessional. The latter includes alternative schools that follow the principles of Montessori, Steiner or Freinet, for example. Primary schools of the French-speaking community in Brussels have also experienced an increase in demand for places. In response, the education department has created more than 3,000 additional places.

The number of students having to repeat a school year is especially large in the French-speaking system. There are moves to improve individual guidance and create a better mix of weaker and stronger students in schools to reduce the problem. The French-speaking community is also encouraging girls to take an interest in scientific and technology studies by joining forces with technology industry federation Agoria in the TechnoTeens project. Through this initiative, primary school pupils are invited to tour and visit companies in the technology sector. TechnoTeens is also organised in the Flemish region.

The German-speaking community in Wallonia is responsible for the education provided in nine German-speaking municipalities in Liège province, near the eastern border of the country. While the teaching language in the school system is German, pupils are familiarised with French from an early age and are often introduced to it in pre-school.

This article first appeared in The Bulletin Newcomer, Spring 2016