On Friday last week, Flanders gave the green light to the Decree on Learning Support, which aims to find the best place to educate every pupil, regardless of their disability.
The new decree will ensure that pupils are able to integrate into the mainstream education system where possible, and will receive special education if necessary from September next year. This will replace the existing M-decree, which enshrined the right to support for every pupil in the region and was introduced in 2014.
"The noble intentions of the M-Decree have come up against the limits of reality. We are resolutely committed to inclusion. But not every pupil with every disability can always be accommodated in mainstream education," Flemish Minister of Education Ben Weyts said in a statement.
He explained that, at times, attempts to boost inclusivity come at the expense of the overall educational quality that other children in the class receive; it can also considerably increase the workload of the teacher as well as the administrative burdens for many other schools.
More complete support system
Weyts said that a more realistic model is needed, which "should lead to better support for pupils, schools and support staff."
The government will be freeing up €195 million per year for the decree, which will allow for investments both for mainstream schools that cater to pupils with special needs, and for extra staff and resources for special needs schools.
The assistance given to teachers in ordinary schools will be improved, for example, by ensuring teacher training programmes pay more structural attention to special care needs in the classroom.
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Additionally, the fragmentation of the support system will be reworked to limit the number of learning support centres to 47 in the region, which will include expertise centres that can work regionally and are easily accessible.
The region's special education schools will receive additional resources and extra staff members. Already, an additional 5,000 places have been made in these schools in the last three years (from 47,000 to 52,000 places), while a capacity monitor has been drawn up to map out the needs in special education.
