In Flanders, besides ‘mainstream’ education, there is also 'special needs' education at primary and secondary level. This is education in separate schools for students with disabilities. About 53.573 students are accommodated in special needs education compared to about 1.2 million in mainstream education (figures from school year 2022-2023). The participation rate in special needs education for pupils of compulsory school age is about 4.4%. 

From the learning support model, learning support is also provided for pupils with special  educational needs who have a Common Curriculum Report (GC Report), an Individual Adapted Curriculum Report (IAC Report) or an Education Form 4 Report (OV4 Report) and who attend classes in mainstream education (see 12.1). 

The equal educational opportunity (GOK) policy also applies to special needs education. 

Pupils with disabilities are divided in the current system of special needs education into 8 types based on the nature and degree of a particular group's (main) disability. That typology is also used as the basis for the organisation of special needs education (see 12.1). 

Pupils with a report in one of the types (and in secondary education one of the types and forms of education) can either enroll in a special needs education school of the relevant type (and form of education) or can enroll in mainstream education and receive support from the learning support model. (See Learning support model). 

For special needs pre-primary education, the pre-school child must be at least 2.5 years old. Children can attend special needs pre-primary education until the age of 5, or exceptionally until the age of 6 or 7 if this is considered better for the child. 

For special needs primary education, the pupil must normally have turned 6 before 1 January of the current school year, but pupils who turn 5 by then can also be enrolled exceptionally. 

In principle, special needs primary education lasts seven years. However, parents may decide to extend it up to and including the school year starting in the year in which the pupil turns 14. 

In special needs secondary education, the starting age is 13, although on reasoned advice from the Pupil Guidance Centre, one can also be admitted from 12, the maximum age is 21. Deviations from the age limit of 21 can be granted by the class council. 

The certificate and accountability protocol are drawn up by a Centre for Pupil Guidance (CLB). Types 3, 4, 6, 7 and 9 also require a medical or multidisciplinary examination carried out by a medical specialist. Parents receive both documents in order to be able to enrol their child in a special needs education school offering education for the type for which the pupil's report was drawn up. 

Type 5 is education for children/young people admitted to a hospital, residential setting or staying in a preventorium. Enrolment in type 5 requires a certificate issued either by the attending physician of the medical or psychiatric facility or by the director of the residential setting. No protocol is required. 

Special needs education is generally organised in schools that are separate from schools for mainstream education. However, schools for special needs education sometimes cooperate (closely) with other social and educational institutions for people with disabilities (multifunctional centres of the Flemish Agency for Persons with Disabilities) or (to a lesser extent) with youth welfare organisations. 

Neither in primary nor in secondary education is the supply of special needs education (BuO) evenly distributed. This is especially the case at primary education level for types 3, 4, 6 and 7 and for education types 2 and 4 in secondary education. A programming procedure is in place to regulate the landscape of special needs education schools. 

Current regulations provide for pupil transport to the nearest school in the network of free choice that offers the type/form of education to which the pupil's BuO certificate refers. Transport is free for entitled pupils. A bus supervisor is provided on each bus on behalf of the Flemish Government to supervise the bus ride. 

Special needs education is organised at pre-primary, primary and secondary levels. In primary education, pupils are divided into 8 types based on the nature and degree of the (main) disability of a particular group [see 12.1]. 

In special needs secondary education, besides the classification into types, there is also a subdivision into 4 forms of education. These types of special secondary education differ from each other according to finality. The overview below shows the finality of each of the type of special needs secondary education, together with the types that may be covered. 

Pupils are divided into pedagogical units in schools. The pedagogical unit may consist of pupils belonging to both the same and different types. These pupils are temporarily or permanently grouped in a pedagogical unit for the purpose of providing education and teaching adapted to their educational needs. Pupils may be assigned to different pedagogical units according to the educational activity, subject or component. 

The division of pupils into pedagogical units is the exclusive competence of the class committees, assisted by the Pupil Guidance Centre (CLB). The criteria used for this depend on the educational choices of the school board, which has complete freedom of choice in this respect (also with regard to the number of pupils they put together in a pedagogical unit). 

Special needs secondary education in the four types of education is provided in proportion of thirty-two to thirty-six fifty-minute lessons per week, spread over nine half-days (with the exception of the integration phase of type 3 of special secondary education, where the duration is 38 lessons per week). 

Structure and organisation 

The organisation differs according to the type of special needs secondary education (see Circular SO/2011/03/BuSO). 

A programme profile is worked out for each programme, which guides the curriculum. 

Type 3 of special needs secondary education does not allow pupils to follow a common curriculum, but provides an individualised curriculum adapted to the needs and abilities of each pupil. Therefore, the class committee selects the developmental goals it wishes to pursue for a particular pupil or pupil group. The goal selection is recorded in an individualised adapted curriculum (IAC). The IAC also states how multidisciplinary teamwork is planned and how social, psychological, remedial, medical and paramedical assistance is integrated into the educational provision. The IAC is drawn up by the class committee, in consultation with the CLB and if possible with the parents. 

Type 4 of special needs secondary education  

In terms of content and structure, Type 4 of special needs secondary education is fully aligned with mainstream secondary education. It is intended for pupils who can cope with the common curriculum, but who require additional support in the context of a special needs school. In type 4 of special needs secondary education, the timetables are exactly the same as those of the corresponding mainstream schools. Subjects and curricula, attainment targets, developmental objectives, specific attainment targets and recognised vocational qualifications are also identical to those in mainstream secondary education. The specificity of special needs education lies in the possibility to adapt the learning offer to the individual pupil on the basis of action planning, always following the common curriculum of mainstream education. 

Social training and internships 

One of the measures to bring special needs secondary education closer to the world of work is social training and internships. This differs depending on the form of education. 

Social training is only possible in type 1 of special needs secondary education. This is an extracurricular training with the aim of gaining experience with a view to a meaningful day, supported employment, voluntary work... but does not aim to gain professional experience aimed at later paid employment. Social training is therefore not covered by the term internship or trainee as referred to in the federal regulations on the protection of trainees. 

Social training can take place in institutions recognised (or in the process of being recognised) for the reception of adult disabled persons who do not perform production-oriented work there (e.g. a day centre, an occupational home, etc.). 

Internships can be arranged in any form of training. An internship is a form of training, outside a place of establishment of the school, in a real working environment with an employer, under the authority of an employer, under similar conditions to regular employees of that employer, involving effective work, with the intention of gaining professional experience (Codex SO, art. 3, 17°/2 and Codex on welfare at work, Book X - work organisation and special categories of employees, title 4 - Trainees). [See apprenticeships 6.2.2; see Circular SO/2016/01 (BuSO)]. 

Also observation activities and practical lessons on placement in special needs secondary education (see 12.4.3.2). 

Dual learning in education forms 3 and 4 

From 1 September 2019, schools of type 3 or 4 of special needs secondary education can offer courses through dual learning. Dual learning is a learning pathway in which the student receives a significant part of the training with an employer at a real workplace. For type 3 of special needs secondary education, this can be followed in the qualification or integration phase. For type 4 of special needs secondary education, this is possible in programmes at the level of the 2nd or 3rd stage of vocational secondary education, or the third stage of technical secondary education. 

School teams can select development targets from: 

For special needs primary education, developmental objectives have been defined for type basic offerings, 2 and 7. They are arranged in subject areas. These subject areas are largely the same as those of ordinary primary education [see 5.2.1]. To respond to the specificity of the target group, certain subject areas have been elaborated more or differently. For some teaching types, the attainment targets of mainstream primary education have been adopted as developmental targets for certain subject areas. The target selection is laid down in each pupil's individual action plan. 

For special needs secondary education, developmental objectives are defined for: 

One of the measures to bring special needs secondary education closer to the world of work is social training and internships. This differs depending on the form of education. 

Social training is only possible in type 1 of special needs secondary education. This is an extracurricular training with the aim of gaining experience with a view to a meaningful day, supported employment, voluntary work... but does not aim to gain professional experience aimed at later paid employment. Social training is therefore not covered by the term internship or trainee as referred to in the federal regulations on the protection of trainees. 

Social training can take place in institutions recognised (or in the process of being recognised) for the reception of adult disabled persons who do not perform production-oriented work there (e.g. a day centre, an occupational home, etc.). 

Internships can be arranged in any form of training. An internship is a form of training, outside a place of establishment of the school, in a real working environment with an employer, under the authority of an employer, under similar conditions to regular employees of that employer, involving effective work, with the intention of gaining professional experience (Codex SO, art. 3, 17°/2 and Codex on welfare at work, Book X - work organisation and special categories of employees, title 4 - Trainees). [See apprenticeships 6.2.2; see Circular SO/2016/01 (BuSO)]. 

Assessment and guidance of pupils are strongly intertwined. In special needs education, assessment has mainly a formative character. 

The class committee, assisted by the pupil guidance centre ( CLB), takes decisions on the composition of classes, whether a particular pupil should remain in a particular pupil group, and on the transfer of pupils to other classes or to a particular type or type of education. 

The composition of the class committee is determined in function of a class or an educational unit formed for one or more learning subjects and/or educational activities. The class committee is composed of members of the teaching staff, support staff, medical, remedial, paramedical, psychological and social staff, who provide for the teaching and educational activities of one or more pupils.