41% of parents in French-speaking Belgium struggle to pay for school trips, and the Family League association is calling for the introduction of a price cap.
The challenge is to organise affordable trips that are still of a high educational quality, says the League. As it stands, students go on an average of four trips during the course of their primary and secondary school education.
A survey of 1,881 families between May and June this year showed that one in 18 primary school students and one in ten secondary students were unable to participate in trips due to high costs, averaging at €242 in primary school and €421 in secondary school. A quarter of excursions cost over €600.
"Some families have had to pay much higher prices," the League stated. "For a single child, the contribution requested by the school is sometimes well above €1,000, rising to €1,800 or even €2,300."
Costs adding up
The majority of school trips remain within Belgium with the exception of extracurricular holidays: 93% take place elsewhere in Europe and 3% take place on another continent. 41% of final-year primary school trips are ski holidays, and one in two parents have been obliged to purchase materials and gear specifically for the trip in question.
In addition, baseline costs often do not take meal and other expenses into account. This was the case for 31% of families surveyed.
Credit: Belga
In six in ten cases, the option of paying in installments or financial support was offered to parents. "Parents' opinions on this topic are mixed," the report stated. "The majority feel that these initiatives are a positive way of ensuring solidarity, but insufficient to meet the cost of the trips."
46% of respondents said they were unaware of this option and 18% said their school did not provide assistance of this sort.
Price ceiling
In light of these difficulties, the Family League is calling for the introduction of a price cap for trips organised by French-language schools in Belgium. 64% of parents were in favour of such an initiative, while 15% expressed a neutral opinion.
Based on the survey responses themselves and measures taken to alleviate expensive school trips in Flanders, the League proposes that primary school trips be capped at €527 and secondary at €903.
"These relatively high amounts – higher than what parents are asking for – would allow us to continue to organise two trips per six-year cycle. Schools do, on average, taking into account current prices, in particular the cost of transport, which has increased in recent years."
