Organisation of the education system in the Flemish Community of Belgium 2009/2010 BE nl European Commission EURYBASE BELGIUM --- Flemish Community 1. POLITICAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC BACKGROUND AND TRENDS 8 1.1. Historical overview 8 1.1.1. Towards a federal state with communitarisation of education 8 1.1.2. Structure of political decision-making 10 1.1.3. Political parties in Flanders 10 1.2. Main executive and legislative bodies 12 1.2.1. Federal 12 1.2.2. The Flemish Community and the Flemish Region 14 1.2.3. The Brussels-Capital Region 16 1.2.4. Provinces, cities and municipalities 17 1.3. Religions 17 1.4. Official and minority languages 19 1.5. Demographic situation 20 1.6. Economic situation 23 1.7. Statistics 24 1.7.1. Demographic statistics 24 1.7.2. Economic statistics 26 1.7.3. Level of education & unskilled outflow & participation in continuing education 29 2. GENERAL ORGANISATION OF THE EDUCATION SYSTEM AND ADMINISTRATION OF EDUCATION 34 2.1. Historical overview 35 2.2. Ongoing debates and future developments 37 2.3. Fundamental principles and basic legislation 42 2.3.1. Freedom of education 42 2.3.2. Educational networks 45 2.3.3. Legal provisions for funding or subsidising schools 47 2.3.4. Teaching methods and ‘pedagogical project’ 48 2.3.5. Quality assurance in education 49 2.3.6. General regulation techniques 53 2.4. General structure and defining moments in educational guidance 54 2.5. Compulsory education 55 2.5.1. Historical overview 56 2.5.2. Current legislation 56 2.5.3. Monitoring compulsory education 57 2.6. General administration 59 2.6.1. General administration at national level: the federal state 60 2.6.2. General administration and management at regional level: the Flemish Community 62 2.6.3. General administration and management at local level 68 2.6.4. Educational institutions, administration and management 80 2.7. Internal and external consultation 91 2.7.1. Internal consultation 91 2.7.2. Consultation involving players in society at large 95 2.8. Methods of financing education 104 2.8.1. The origin of the education budget 104 2.8.2. The scope of the education budget and budget items 105 2.8.3. Financing of elementary and secondary education 105 2.8.4. Financing of school infrastructure and school construction 107 2.8.5. Financing of continuing education 109 2.8.6. Financing of higher education 112 2.9. Statistics 117 2.9.1. School population 117 2.9.2. Education budget 120 2.9.3. EPOS Budget 123 2.9.4. Competence-agenda Budget 123 2.9.5. Participation in continuing education 124 3. PRE-PRIMARY EDUCATION 125 3.1. Historical overview 126 3.2. Ongoing debates and future developments 127 3.3. Specific Legislative framework 129 3.4. General objectives 129 3.5. Geographical accessibility 132 1 3.6. Admission requirements and choice of Institution/Centre 132 3.7. Financial support for pupils’ families 133 3.8. Age levels and Grouping of Children 133 3.9. Organization of time 133 3.9.1. Annual work schedule 133 3.9.2. Weekly and daily schedule 134 3.10. Curriculum, Types of Activity, Number of Hours 134 3.11. Teaching methods and Materials 134 3.12. Evaluation 134 3.13. Support facilities 135 3.14. Private-sector provision 135 3.15. Organisational variations and alternative structures 135 3.16. Statistics 136 4. ELEMENTARY EDUCATION 137 4.1. Historical overview 139 4.2. Ongoing debates and future developments 140 4.3. Specific legislative framework 141 4.4. General objectives 142 4.5. Geographical accessibility 142 4.6. Admission requirements and choice of school 142 4.7. Financial support for pupils' families 144 4.8. Age levels and grouping of pupils 146 4.9. Organisation of school time 146 4.9.1. Organisation of the school year 146 4.9.2. Weekly and daily timetable 147 4.10. Curriculum, subjects, number of periods 147 4.11. Teaching methods and materials 149 4.12. Pupil assessment 150 4.13. Progression of pupils 151 4.14. Proofs of study 151 4.15. Educational guidance 151 4.15.1. Special pupil guidance 151 4.15.2. Pupil guidance centres (CLBs) 152 4.16. Private education 154 4.17. Organisational variations and alternative structures 155 4.17.1. Educational Type 5 (hospital schools and preventoria) 155 4.17.2. K-services (psychiatric services for children and youngsters) 156 4.17.3. Temporary Education at Home (TOAH) 156 4.18. Statistics 157 4.18.1. Elementary education 157 4.18.2. Learning lag / lead of pupils of Belgian nationality in mainstream primary education, per grade and per sex 159 4.18.3. CLBs, Pupil guidance centres 160 4.18.4. Pupil transport 161 5. SECONDARY AND POST-SECONDARY NON-TERTIARY EDUCATION 161 5.1. Historical overview 163 5.2. Ongoing debates and future developments 165 5.3. Specific legislative framework 167 5.4. General objectives 167 5.5. Types of institutions 168 5.6. Geographical accessibility 170 5.7. Admission requirements and choice of school 170 5.8. Registration and/or tuition fees 172 5.9. Financial support for pupils 172 5.10. Age levels and grouping of pupils 175 5.11. Specialisation of studies 175 5.11.1. 1st stage of secondary education 175 5.11.2. 2nd and 3rd stages of secondary education 177 5.11.3. Fourth stage of vocational secondary education 180 5.11.4. Experimental vocational secondary education under a modular system (modular BSO) 180 5.11.5. Top sports 183 2 EURYBASE BELGIUM --- Flemish Community 5.12. Organisation of school time 184 5.12.1. Organisation of the school year 184 5.12.2. Weekly and daily timetable 185 5.13. Curriculum, subjects, number of hours 186 5.13.1. Final objectives, developmental objectives and vocational qualifications 186 5.13.2. Curricula 189 5.13.3. Timetables 190 5.14. Teaching methods and materials 196 5.15. Pupil assessment 196 5.16. Progression of pupils 197 5.17. Certification 197 5.18. Educational/vocational guidance, education/employment links 199 5.18.1. Educational and vocational guidance 199 5.18.2. On-the-job learning & work experience 200 5.18.3. Starting-job projects for young school leavers and the unemployed 202 5.18.4. Stimulating entrepreneurship 203 5.18.5. Collaborations between education – labour market 203 5.19. Private education 205 5.20. Organisational variations and alternative structures 205 5.20.1. The alternance-training system 205 5.20.2. Advanced Secondary Education (SE-n-SE) 221 5.20.3. Higher vocational education, qualification level 5 (HBO5) 222 5.21. Statistics 225 5.21.1. Secondary education 225 5.21.2. Apprenticeships 229 5.21.3. Boarding schools 230 6. TERTIARY EDUCATION 230 6.1. Historical overview 232 6.1.1. History of university-college education 232 6.1.2. History of university education 233 6.1.3. The higher-education system in the wake of the Bologna Declaration 233 6.2. Ongoing debates and future developments 234 6.3. Specific legislative framework 235 6.4. General objectives 236 6.5. Types of institution 237 6.6. Admission requirements 238 6.7. Registration and/or tuition fees 240 6.8. Financial support for students 240 6.9. Organisation of the academic year 242 6.10. Areas of study 243 6.11. Curriculum 245 6.12. Teaching methods 245 6.13. Student assessment 245 6.14. Progression of students 246 6.15. Proofs of study 247 6.16. Educational/vocational guidance, education/employment links 248 6.17. Private education 249 6.18. Organisational variations and alternative structures 249 6.19. Statistics 250 7. CONTINUING EDUCATION AND PROGRAMMES FOR YOUNG SCHOOL LEAVERS AND ADULTS 253 7.1. Historical overview 254 7.1.1. Adult education - historical overview 254 7.1.2. VDAB – historical overview 256 7.1.3. Entrepreneurial training SYNTRA Flanders - Historical overview 256 7.1.4. Training in agriculture - Historical overview 257 7.1.5. Part-time artistic education DKO - historical overview 257 7.1.6. Socio-cultural adult work - historical overview 257 7.2. Ongoing debates and future developments 258 7.2.1. Adult education - ongoing debates and future developments 259 7.2.2. Vocational training VDAB - ongoing debates and future developments 259 3 7.2.3. Entrepreneurial training SYNTRA Flanders - ongoing debates and future developments 259 7.2.4. Training in agriculture - ongoing debates and future developments 260 7.2.5. DKO - ongoing debates and future developments 260 7.2.6. Socio-cultural adult work - ongoing debates and future developments 261 7.2.7. The further development of an integrated education and training policy 262 7.2.8. Strategic Literacy Plan 262 7.2.9. Strategic Plan 'Assistance and Services for Detainees' 264 7.3. Specific legislative framework 265 7.3.1. Adult education - specific legislative framework 265 7.3.2. Vocational training VDAB - specific legislative framework 265 7.3.3. Entrepreneurial training SYNTRA Flanders - specific legislative framework 265 7.3.4. Training in agriculture - specific legislative framework 266 7.3.5. Part-time artistic education DKO – specific legislative framework 266 7.3.6. Socio-cultural adult work - specific legislative framework 266 7.4. General objectives 267 7.4.1. Adult education - general objectives 267 7.4.2. Vocational training VDAB - general objectives 268 7.4.3. Entrepreneurial training SYNTRA Flanders - general objectives 269 7.4.4. Training in agriculture - general objectives 270 7.4.5. Part-time artistic education – general objectives 271 7.4.6. Socio-cultural adult work- general objectives 271 7.5.