Overview of Education System
The Minister of Education heads the Flemish Ministry’s Department of Education and Training, and the Flemish government supervises education policy from the preprimary level through university and adult education. The Belgian Constitution guarantees all children the right to education.2 Mainstream preprimary education, which is not compulsory, is available for children ages 2½ to 6. Almost all children in Flanders receive preprimary education. Compulsory education starts on September 1 of the year in which children reach age 6 and continues for 12 years. Students must attend school full time until age 15 or 16. After that, at least part time schooling (a full time combination of part time study and work) is required, although most young people continue to attend full time secondary education. Free compulsory education ends in June of the year in which the student reaches age 18. Preprimary, primary, and secondary schools that are funded or subsidized by the government cannot demand any fees. Compulsory education does not necessarily require attendance at a school; home education is an alternative.
The Flemish government develops the attainment targets and the minimum objectives of the core curriculum (e.g., for the end of primary school). Governing bodies (i.e., school boards) are the main key to the organization of education in Flanders and can be responsible for one or several schools. These bodies are free to choose teaching methods based on their own philosophy or educational vision. They also can determine their own curriculum and timetables and appoint their own staff. Most schools in Flanders are part of an educational association of schools—an organization that supports schools in terms of logistics, administration, and pedagogy (e.g., the association of Catholic schools or the associations of public schools commissioned by the Flemish Community or organized by a town or a province). These associations of schools develop their own curricula for each grade or each phase of two grades. In that sense, there are several national curricula in Flanders.
In Flanders, preprimary and primary education are offered in two forms: mainstream and special. Special preprimary and primary education are meant for children who need special help, temporarily or permanently. Many students with special needs are able to remain in regular education with some special attention and aid from a teacher or a remedial teacher. However, regular education is not always equipped to meet the needs of students who require special assistance temporarily or permanently. Special education schools provide these children (6.3 percent of the population of students in primary education) with adapted education, training, care, and treatment.
These students are divided into eight education types based on the nature and degree of the main disability within a certain group. Approximately 60 percent of them belong to the type “Education-basis offer”: children whose special educational needs are significant and for whom it is proven that the adaptations are disproportional or insufficient to include the student in the common curriculum in a mainstream primary school. This type combines the former type 1 (minor mental disability) and type 8 (severe learning disability), which was slowly phased out. The other types are organized for students with a mental disability (type 2); an emotional or behavioral disorder (type 3); a motor disability (type 4); a temporary admission to a hospital, residential setting, or preventorium (type 5); a visual impairment (type 6); aural impairment or a speech or language defect (type 7); or an autism spectrum disorder without a mental disability (type 9).
There is no common curriculum in special schools. Students in special schools have an individualized curriculum that is adapted to the needs and possibilities of each student. The objectives are autonomously selected by the school, based on the attainment targets of mainstream primary education and/or the developmental objectives of the educational types 1, 2, 7, or 8. With the exception of education types 2 and 5 and subject to certain conditions, all students of all education types can receive support in mainstream education within a framework of integrated education. With support, a limited number of students who have a moderate or severe intellectual disability (with a registration report for education type 2) can be catered to in mainstream primary education within the framework of inclusive education.