There will be no immediate restriction on the number of foreign midwifery students in Belgium’s French-speaking community.
This was announced by Higher Education Minister Elisabeth Degryse on Monday in the Wallonia/Brussels Federation Parliament.
Over a year ago, the community's previous government had stated its intention to quickly reduce the number of foreign students in midwifery courses.
This decision, which was aimed primarily at students from France, was based on a report by the AEQES, in which the education agency expressed concern about the quality of the courses due to the high number of students. This, the agency said, affected the organisation of internships, in particular.
In 2023, quotas for foreign students in medical sciences, dentistry, and veterinary medicine courses at universities in French-speaking Belgium were reduced from 30% to 15%.
Since then, the European Commission has raised concern about the further limitation of foreign students in several courses.
Minister Degryse has now decided to place the restriction plan on hold.
“We are at risk of an infringement procedure,” the minister explained. “Implementing this adjustment now is particularly sensitive given the specific questions from the European Commission.”
Limiting foreign midwifery students to 30% would have little effect, she said, as this percentage was surpassed only once in the past decade.
