2025

2023

Teacher bonus

Staff members in primary and secondary education who do not yet have a pedagogical qualification certificate and are undergoing teacher training to obtain a pedagogical qualification certificate are entitled, with full pay, to a teacher's bonus in the form of a weekly reduction of up to 3 hours of their assignment. The institution where the staff member takes up the teacher's bonus is entitled to replacement, according to the normal replacement rules.

Digisprong 

The Digisprong is catching up in terms of digitization of learning and teaching in compulsory education. It is the minister's ambition to strengthen the digital competences of all learners, from primary school child to adult. Based on a strong Flemish e-inclusion policy, special attention is also given to vulnerable target groups. The measures and actions to facilitate distance learning are framed within the recovery plan and the pursuit of digital inclusion. 

Efforts are being made on 5 fronts for an accelerated digitization policy: 

1. A digital friendly government;
2. ICT infrastructure;
3. ICT vision and school policy;
4. Digital teaching materials;
5. ICT skills.  

A strong ICT infrastructure and development of an ICT vision and school policy are considered prerequisites for digital acceleration and development of an ICT vision and school policy. To further develop ICT skills among teachers and in school teams in compulsory and adult education, existing initiatives will be strengthened, including through additional colored in-service training resources and by funding so-called IT bootcamps for teachers and ICT coordinators. We also provide a tool, Digisnap, that allows teachers to scale their digital skills. This tool will also be linked to a new training database.  

The digital transformation of Flemish education is a complex process. In order to coordinate and support the many diverse actions and projects in the educational field from the same framework, a knowledge and advice center was also established. 

Efforts are also being made to strengthen the role of ICT coordinators and the transformation to ICT teams in schools. There is further provision for a sustainability strategy whereby schools can have outdated ICT infrastructure refurbished or dismantled. Other upcoming elements include a vision trail around Artificial Intelligence in education and a cybersecurity support program. 

Digisprong - Knowledge Centre

The Knowledge Centre Digisprong has several tasks in the roll-out of the Digisprong action plan. The Knowledge Centre offers support to schools in the form of concrete tips and step-by-step plans, including in the field of distance learning and digital remote evaluations. Several inspiration guides and advice were published on, among other things, fiscal aspects of infrastructure subsidies, digital competences of teachers and a purchasing guide for mobile devices. In addition, a management and control system was developed and submitted for approval.

2022

Flemish tests

The surveys and international comparative research show that the results for certain domains, such as mathematics, science and reading comprehension, could be better. From the school year 2023-2024 onwards, primary and secondary schools will therefore be implementing the first Flemish tests. Flemish tests are standardised and validated cross-network and -sector tests, with the primary aim of supporting the internal quality assurance of schools and thus helping to strengthen educational quality. It is an instrument in the context of monitoring learning outcomes and measuring learning gains, generating knowledge that in turn contributes to supporting the internal quality assurance system of schools, external quality control by the inspectorate, the support to schools by educational guidance services and monitoring the attainment of educational objectives by pupils at system level.

The tests are set up centrally, taken digitally, and will be processed and analysed. They are initially limited to Dutch (reading comprehension, writing, grammar) and mathematics.

A new learning support decree

The Flemish Government replaces the M-decree for pupils with specific educational needs by the learning support decree. In this decree, a new model for supporting pupils with specific educational needs in mainstream education is defined: the learning support model. The decree on learning support and the learning support model will be phased in on 1 September 2022. The decree increases the quality of education and guarantees workability for schools and teachers. The aim is to strengthen ordinary education, learning support and special education. The Flemish Government aspires to create:

• a strong primary care and increased care in mainstream education;
• a sustainable learning support model with appropriate employment conditions for support staff;
• a fully-fledged place and a strengthening of the quality of special education.

Funding analysis and optimization

The funding system of the second and third grades is being adjusted. This measure is part of the realisation of inclusive education. The available resources must be used efficiently in function of the pupil and the teacher, in the classroom and in the school. To this end, a study, ‘Analysis of the flow of resources from schools to umbrella organisations and central services of GO!’ was carried out and will soon be presented to the Minister.

In this context, extra attention is being paid to optimising the new Equal Educational Opportunities (‘gelijke onderwijskansen’ or ‘GOK’) cycle in special needs primary education and in mainstream and special secondary education. Schools must provide excellent education for every pupil and guarantee correct and targeted use of the operational and budgetary resources allocated. This will be verified by the education inspectorate:

• Schools implement a GOK policy in accordance with the quality expectations set out in the reference framework for educational quality. Schools themselves determine their targets, indicators and a time schedule for achieving these targets. In primary education, these matters must be included in the school work plan, in which the GOK policy must be made explicit.
• The Education Inspectorate evaluates the schools' equal opportunities policy during its regular inspections, including the use of the specific resources allocated for this purpose. In case of a first negative evaluation, the school continues to receive all GOK funds until the following school audit, but has to make a commitment to remediation with external guidance and support. With a second consecutive negative evaluation, the school receives only half of the GOK funds from the following school year until the school year in which an evaluation is positive again.

Within the framework of the Flemish spending review, the department produced a report on, among other things, the financing of secondary education. The effectiveness and efficiency of the use of resources were examined and numerous policy proposals were made to optimise these processes. In addition, a spending review that focuses specifically on the financing of higher education was launched.

Priority-in-service traininig

The Flemish government constantly strives for quality education within a context of social and technological change. That is why it regularly takes initiatives for educational innovation. With the priority in-service training, the Flemish Minister of Education establishes priority themes to support the policy every 2 years. A call invites interested organisations to translate the chosen themes into a specific in-service training offer for teachers, principals, educational supervisors and teacher trainers. The minister then makes a selection of quality projects.

For school years 2020 - 2021 and 2021 - 2022, 'reading comprehension for primary school teacher teams' has been chosen as the theme. The following school years will focus on the 'professionalisation of school teams on language integration paths' or of 'teacher teams in mathematics/PAV (trajectory general subject matters, VET) 1st stage secondary'.

Additional education support fund (bijsprong)

The COVID-19 pandemic poses great challenges to education in Flanders. For many pupils, especially the most vulnerable ones, the pandemic resulted in an increased learning deficit. Eliminating this learning deficit is an absolute priority. In order to achieve this, the Flemish Government wants to give schools extra support by providing additional guidance, the additional education support fund or ‘Bijsprong’.

For this measure, 85 million euro has been earmarked for the school year 2021-2022. Schools for mainstream and special needs primary and secondary education and centres for part-time vocational secondary education can apply for additional support in the form of teaching hours (primary education), teacher hours (ordinary secondary education) and teaching hours (special secondary education). The funds can be used from 1 September 2021 until 30 June 2022. Pupils who meet the pupil characteristics for the socio-economic (SES) framework in mainstream primary education or the gelijke onderwijskansen (GOK) framework mainstream secondary education and pupils in part-time vocational secondary education (DBSO) receive additional resources.

Digisprong

Digisprong (see also overview 2021) aims to to make up for lost time in the digitisation of learning and teaching in compulsory education. It is the minister's ambition to strengthen the digital competences of all learners, from primary school pupils to adults. Starting from a strong Flemish e-inclusion policy, special attention is paid to vulnerable target groups. The measures and actions to make distance learning easier are framed within the Flemish recovery plan and the pursuit to digital inclusion.

Efforts are being made on 5 different fronts for an enhanced digitisation policy: (1) a digital friendly government, (2) ICT infrastructure, (3) ICT vision and school policy, (4) digital learning resources and (5) ICT skills. A strong ICT infrastructure and the development of an ICT vision and policy for schools are basic conditions for achieving a digital acceleration. In order to further develop ICT skills among teachers and in school teams in compulsory and adult education, existing initiatives will be reinforced and ICT bootcamps for teachers and ICT coordinators will be organised.

The digital transformation of Flemish education is a complex process. In order to coordinate and support the many different actions and projects in the field of education from a single framework, a knowledge and advice centre has been set up.

New enrolment decree

On 7 February, the Flemish Parliament approved a new enrolment decree for ordinary education. The new enrolment decree applies to enrolments for 2023-2024 school year. It is therefore postponed by one year to 1 September 2022 for enrolments for 2023-2024 school year. This way, schools can continue to use the same enrolment register and model for enrolments for school year 2022-2023. Of course, the constitutionally enshrined free choice of school remains paramount. However, some schools have a limited capacity. The new decree must prevent parents from camping out at the school gates. Moreover, the government keeps an eye on the social mix. Thus, parameters such as the diversity of the neighbourhood, social origin and the proximity come into the picture. The system of double quota allocation is being overhauled. From now on, the municipal council can reserve up to 20 per cent of the available places. The parameters are free to choose: gender, social origin, place of residence, etc. This should make any priority policy 'supplementary and corrective, but never disruptive'. In Brussels, 65% of the available places must be reserved for a child of whom at least one parent speaks Dutch. In some cities, such as Antwerp, Ghent and Brussels, a central digital registration system is used. This will be retained. Elsewhere, only schools with an expected shortage of capacity have to set up a digital application. The school may choose the algorithm that will make the distribution. Flanders will develop a central platform to technically facilitate all digital enrolment procedures. Again, the municipalities get the last word in choosing the algorithm. The schools retain the freedom to determine the period for enrolment.

Admission requirements

In terms of age requirements, the minimum age of admission for primary education – which was  5 years – has been dropped. Moreover, a pupil who does not yet meet the general admission requirements for primary education and cannot claim a guaranteed school career, may be enrolled in primary school under a resolutive condition. If enrollment is dissolved, the pupil does have the right to be enrolled in excess capacity in the kindergarten where the pupil attended school the previous school year.

Flexible use of teaching times and hours

In the event of a shortage of teaching staff, a school board may, in the school years 2022-'23, 2023-'24 and 2024-'25, convert a maximum of 20 per cent of the allocated vacant teaching hours/teaching hours into points or hours, and use them in posts of policy and support staff and - in special education - also of paramedical, medical, social, psychological and remedial teaching staff.

The conversions are possible from 1 October of the current school year and apply for the duration of that school year. The points serve at most to support teachers so that they can focus on their core task. If the staff member appointed to a post through conversion voluntarily resigns during the school year, the conversion ends.

Educational guidance services reform

The educational guidance services (PBDs) support the educational institutions and pupil guidance centres (CLBs). The PBD has different missions that:

• Strengthen the school's policy
• Promote the professionalisation of the teaching staff

New core tasks for the PBDs were developed and came into effect on September 1, 2022. These relate to all educational levels and forms, including VET.

From now on, these services will guide educational institutions and CLBs in strengthening the professional skills of their staff and they will strengthen the schools as learning organisations with their projects. At the same time, they have to implement the policy priorities of the Flemish Government in the field of education.To this end, they receive additional operating funds.

1. reinforcing the professional competence of the staff members of the educational institutions and CLBs in question, in direct contact, with attention for the reinforcement of their pedagogic and didactic approach and with a view to the development of all learners;
2. reinforcing the educational institutions and CLBs in question as a professional learning organisation. The educational guidance services hereby give priority to the educational institutions or CLBs where the greatest needs are to be found. In order to identify these educational institutions or CLBs, the educational guidance services may use different sources such as the data from the educational guidance service itself, the data from the educational institution or CLB in question, the data from audit trails carried out by the educational inspectorate of the educational institution or CLB in question, the data that form the basis of the profile of the educational institution or CLB as set out in Article 38 §4 or other results or data that indicate a low quality of education or pupil guidance;
3. supporting the educational institutions in question in the realisation of their own pedagogical, artistic-pedagogical or agogical project and supporting the CLBs in question in the realisation of their own mission and their own guidance project;
4. supporting the implementation of certain policy priorities of the Flemish Government in the educational institutions and CLBs in question, as provided for in Article 19/2. The emphasis of the supervision of the educational guidance services is always on the development of the educational institutions and CLBs in question. This requires a long-term relationship with the institutions concerned.

XR Action Plan

The XR Action Plan focuses on the professionalisation and further development of XR (Extended Reality) to support learning effects in technical and vocational secondary education. In the course of 2023, a lending service for XR Hardware will start for schools in cooperation with the 5 regional technologic centres (RTCs). For schools to use the equipment from the lending service as effectively as possible, they will receive in-service training through the XR-Hardware training programme.

Schools were also called upon to develop their own customised XR software in April 2022. Development and delivery of the selected projects will take place between 2022 and 2024. Another call for practical research will follow in 2023 to permanently embed this innovation in the Flemish educational landscape through scientific research.

Cognitively high-functioning pupils

Cognitively high-functioning pupils can accelerate (skip one or more learning years) from 1 September 2022. That pupil will then not have a study certificate from the underlying grade, but will have a favourable decision from the admissions class council. The class council determines autonomously whether a pupil is cognitively high-functioning.