The new Flemish government, consisting of the rightwing N-VA, centre CD&V and liberal Open Vld parties, has announced their coalition agreement on Monday, dealing with five challenges in our education system.
In terms of education, the new government focuses on the needs of both the individual student and the teachers.
"The five challenges are improving the quality of our education, dealing with the shortage of teachers and the definition of their statute, giving children the right guidance, improving the capacity of our education system, and keeping the study duration the way it was in secondary school," said future minister-president Jan Jambon in the press conference to announce to coalition agreement.
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The first two grades of secondary school, for children aged 12 to 14, are mainly for the children to get courses on a broad spectrum of subjects, to discover their individual interests and talents. The previous Flemish government had the idea to create an even broader spectrum of courses, but the new government has decided to not go through with it.
The M-decree as it is now will disappear in exchange for a 'guidance decree'. The M-decree was introduced in 2015 to integrate children with disabilities into regular education as much as possible, but it was heavily criticised for putting too much pressure on teachers. The new guidance decree will focus on care tailored to each child.
Maïthé Chini
The Brussels Times
