Due to an increasing number of French students in Belgian French-speaking education, particularly in medical disciplines, the Wallonia-Brussels Federation (FWB) is considering new quotas for the number of non-Belgian residents studying midwifery, pharmacy, psychology and education, Higher Education Minister Valérie Glatigny told TVchannel LN24.
Fearing a lack of trained medical personnel in Belgium, last year FWB already implemented quotas on non-resident students of certain disciplines: 15% for medicine and dentistry (starting in 2024), 20% for veterinary medicine and 30% for speech therapy, audiology and kinesiotherapy, La Libre Belgique reports.
“As far as midwifery is concerned, French students represent more than 40% of the student population in the first year of the bachelor's degree, and more than 50% of graduates (latest official figures available for the academic year 2020-2021),” Olivier Schotte, Ministry spokesperson to La Libre.
"This potentially impacts the quality of the training, since we are not able to guarantee the number of births necessary to guarantee the practice of our internship students."
An 'El dorado' for French students
Glatigny has asked the administration to evaluate the possibility of new quotas, but she did mention that these measures require caution. EU law enshrines the right to free movement of people, including students. EU citizens are entitled to study under the same conditions as the native population, and any derogations from these rights must be justified.
French nationals have the highest numbers among European students in Belgian francophone universities. In the 2020-2021 academic year, European students made up 13% of all psychology and education sciences students, and 6% of them were French, according to the Ministry. In pharmacy, there were 20% European students, of which 15% were French.
Many French graduates return home after their studies. The Louvain Catholic University (UCLouvain) said that nine in ten French students go back to France.
Related News
- Anger and dismay: University of Kent closes flagship Brussels campus
- Belgium's GP time-bomb: Mass retirement to aggravate the shortage
- CPAS in Brussels and health insurance companies fight for beneficiaries rights
According to the most recent numbers (2019-2020), there were nearly 30,000 French students in Belgian francophone higher education. To get a more recent picture, La Libre asked several establishments about their intake of French nationals.
This year, at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), French students make up 12% of the student body. The over 2,500 French students at the University of Liège represent 10% of the total. 700 of those students are pursuing medicine. In art schools, the proportion of French students rises to 34%.
"Easier access and lower tuition fees are the pull factor," Frédéric Schoenaers, the teaching vice-rector of the University of Liège told La Libre.
