In an attempt to resolve deep-rooted linguistic tensions, Belgium's French-speaking government has decided that in four years, Dutch will be compulsory for everyone from the third year of primary school, as is already the case in Brussels.
Today in Wallonia, almost a third of pupils leave secondary school without having taken a single Dutch language class. And while half of the pupils have had access to at least one year of tuition, only 1% of pupils followed the entire course with Dutch as a priority choice.
The outcome is well known: Walloons speak the language of their regional neighbours very little, very badly or not at all.
In Brussels, the problem is less pronounced as Dutch has long been the first modern language and is taught from the third year of primary school (compared with the fifth year in Wallonia). This is also the case for Walloon municipalities that border the Flemish and German-speaking communities. Here, Dutch or German is compulsory.
Yet the Dutch language has also lost its appeal in recent years. From 2013 to 2019, the share of Dutch as a first language fell from 53% to 48% of pupils in the first and second secondary years. Over half of pupils now favour English, supplanting Dutch.
Tackling regional division
Educational experts say that Dutch is perceived by French speakers as difficult and ugly. Dutch language culture also struggles to penetrate the non-Dutch community, which allows misconceptions to grow and spread. On top of this, the language divide heightens tensions that stem from political and industrial differences.
The Pact for Excellent Education aims to change this by introducing languages from nursery school onwards, with dedicated language learning mandatory from the third year of primary school. The changes will be gradually brought in from the start of the 2023 school year.
Thursday's decision will mean that Dutch will soon be a compulsory first modern language in both Brussels and Wallonia. This will start in the third year of primary school and will remain compulsory when moving on to secondary school.
Recruiting teachers
On paper, the change is a step towards integrating Belgium's regions better. Yet on the ground, it is not certain that everything will be in order by the start of the next school year. Belgium is facing an acute teacher shortage, with Dutch language teachers particularly thin on the ground.
It will therefore be necessary to train and even retrain teachers. Second-career teachers will also have to be recruited.
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As with learning any language, motivation is key. To this end, Wallonia will now have to start convincing schools, parents and pupils of the importance of Dutch.
The Walloon government expects this to be an incremental progression, stating that "the obligation to teach Dutch... will take effect after a period of three or four years following the official announcement and then progressively, over the course of seven years."
