Arikah Map

Education in Belgium

Education in Belgium:The different levels of education in Flanders
Enlarge
The different levels of education in Flanders

Education in Belgium is regulated and for the larger part financed by one of the three communities. The national legislator only kept a very few, minimal competencies for education as the age for mandatory schooling, and, indirectly, the financing of the communities. All the three communities have a unified school system, with small differences between the different communities.

The schools can be divided in three groups (Dutch: netten; French: réseaux):

  1. Schools owned by the communities (gemeenschapsonderwijs; réseau de la Communauté française)
  2. Subsidized public schools (officieel gesubsidieerd onderwijs; réseau officiel subventionné), organized by provinces and municipalities
  3. Subsidized free schools (vrij gesubsidieerd onderwijs; réseau libre subventionné), mainly organized by an organization affiliated to the Catholic church

The latter is the largest group, both in number of schools and in number of pupils.

Education in Belgium is compulsory between the ages of 6 and 18. Private home education is possible, though very rarely applied.

In the 2003 PISA-study [1] by the OECD, the Belgian students scored relatively high. The results of the Dutch-speaking students were somewhat better than the scores of the French-speaking students.


Contents

Stages of education

The different stages of education are the same in all communities:

Pre-school

Free pre-primary schooling (Dutch: kleuteronderwijs; French: einseignement maternel; German: Kindergarten) is provided to every child from the age of 2 years 6 months. In most schools the child can start in school as soon as they reach this age, so class size for the youngest children grows during the year. In the Flemish region, start dates are limited to 6 per year, after a school holiday period and the first school day in February.

The aim of the pre-school is to develop, in a playful way, the child's cognitive skills, his capacity of expression and communication, his creativity and independence. There are no formal lessons or assessments, and everything is done in a playful way.

Although it is not compulsory, more than 90% of all children in the age category attend pre-school.[2]

Most pre-schools are attached to a primary school. Some schools offer special pre-primary education for children with disabilities or other special needs.

Primary school

Primary school (Dutch: lager onderwijs; French: einseignement primaire; German: Grundschule) consists of six years and the subjects given are generally the same at all schools. Primary schooling is free and age is the only entrance requirement.

Primary education is divided into three cycles (Dutch: graden; French: degrés):

Education in primary schools is rather traditional: it concentrates on reading, writing and basic mathematics, but also touches already a very broad range of topics (biology, music, religion, history...).

Flemish schools in Brussels and some municipalities near the linguistic border, must offer French lessons starting from the first or the second year. Most other Flemish school offer French education in the third cycle. Primary schools in the French Community must teach a foreign language, which is generally Dutch or English, depending on the school. Primary schools in the German Community have oblidged French lessons.

There are also some private schools set up to serve various international communities in Belgium (e.g. children of seafarers or European diplomats), mainly around the larger cities. Some schools offer special primary education for children with disabilities or other special needs.

Secondary school

When graduating from primary school around the age of 12, students enter secondary education. Here they have to choose a direction that they want to follow, depending on their skill level and interests.

secondary education is consists of three cycles (Dutch: graden; French: degrés):

The first cycle provides a broad general basis, with only a few options to choose from (e.g. Latin, additional mathematics, technology). This should enable students to orient themselves in the most suitable way towards the many different directions available in the second and third stages.

Structure in the Flemish Community

Secondary school is divided into four general types. Each type consists of a set of different directions that may vary from school to school. The general types are as follows:

Students with disabilities can follow Special Secondary Education (Dutch: Buitengewoon Secundair Onderwijs; BuSO), in different types.

Structure in the French and German-speaking Communities

Higher Education

Higher education in Belgium is organized by the two main communities, the Flemish Community and the French Community. German speakers typically enroll in institutions in the French Community or in Germany.

Admission to universities and colleges

In Belgium anybody with a qualifying diploma of secondary education is free to enroll at any institute of higher education of their choosing. The 3 major exceptions to this rule are those wanting to pursue a degree in:

Cost of higher education

The registration fee for any university or college is fixed by the government, and indexed yearly. Depending on whether the student is eligible and applies for financial aid, there are 3 prices:

The financial aid awarded by the community governments depends on the income of the student's family, and other familial circumstances, but is never more than approximately €3300 per year.

Bologna changes

Prior to the adoption of the Bologna process, the Belgian higher education system had the following degrees:

A University education was not considered finished until the licentiate diploma is obtained. Occasionally it was possible to switch specializations after obtaining the candidate diploma. For example, a student with a mathematics candidate diploma was often allowed to start in the third year of computer science class. Sometimes a graduate diploma was also accepted as an equivalent to a candidate diploma (with additional courses if necessary), allowing for 2 or 3 more years of education at a University.

Since the adoption of the Bologna process in most European countries, the higher education system in Belgium follows the Bachelor/Master system:

In Belgium, both Universities and Colleges are allowed to teach Bachelor and Master classes, either professional or academical.

After obtaining a Master's degree, talented students can pursue research projects leading to a doctorate degree. PhD's are only awarded by Universities.

See also

References

  1. Learning for Tomorrow's World - First Results from PISA 2003
  2. Structures of education, vocational training and adult education systems in Europe - 2003 Edition
  3. Education in Flanders - A broad view of the Flemish educational landscape

Categories


Education in Belgium

Find

Find

Find