Hundreds of teachers and students protested in downtown Liège on Friday to express their dissatisfaction with the French Community Government's (Federation Wallonia-Brussels) budget-cutting decree affecting education.
The municipal education teams stated in a press release that initial concerns had turned into certainty that the budget decree would significantly impact local secondary education and its students.
Many teachers and students gathered at Place Saint-Lambert, responding to a call from Liège’s municipal education teams. The demonstration follows a series of protests in the Liège region since early December against the announced measures.
Students and teachers hold a protest action on Friday 20 December 2024 in Liege. Credit: Belga / Jessica Defgnee
Pickets were set up on Friday in front of most secondary schools organised by the City of Liège.
The protest parade started at Place Saint-Lambert, opposite the Liège branch of the MR party, and proceeded through the city centre, passing Boulevards de la Sauvenière and d’Avroy, and Avenue Blonden, ending at the headquarters of the Les Engagés party on Rue Paradis.
Several hundred demonstrators marched solemnly holding banners and placards with messages reflecting their discontent. Examples included "If education costs too much, try ignorance", "Education is an investment, not a budget", and "School energy is not renewable".
The decrees particularly targeted vocational education. The municipal education teams highlighted that vocational education serves as a social anchor, a gateway to the professional world, and a form of civic training, making the preservation of these programmes essential for democratic, social, and economic reasons.
