For several years, the political authorities have introduced transversal policies - on Employment, Training and Vocational Education - in the French-speaking Belgium, aimed at harmonising the provision of training and education with socio-economic needs, and in particular through the following initiatives :

• Working groups and joint meetings of the governments of the Community, the Walloon Region, the Brussels-Capital Region and the French Community Commission (Cocof) are organised on the subjects of employment, training and education. Structures are gradually being introduced to translate this desire for synergy into concrete form. Thus the skills centres in Wallonia and the advanced technology centres (CTAs) in the French Community are accessible to both pupils from qualification stream education and adults undergoing training. In Brussels, the Employment Training Poles were set up in four specific sectors (construction, industry, digital and logistics) with the aim of bringing together and pooling the resources of employment, vocational training and the sectors concerned ;
• As part of efforts to strengthen the links between the world of business and vocational education and training structures, including adult education, a French-Speaking Professions and Qualifications Service (SFMQ) has been created (decree 30/04/2009), which produces ‘Job Profiles’ and associated ‘Training Profiles’, legal reference frameworks for synergy between jobs and qualifications. In concrete terms, the purpose of this change is to ensure that socio-economic actors, starting with the parties to social dialogue, can understand realities in the world of business, developments in that world, and its requirements in terms of skills and qualifications, and ultimately to ensure that those realities are taken into account when devising school or training curricula, so as to facilitate young people’s access to employment ;
• A cooperation agreement between the Walloon Region, Cocof and the French Community has created an Interministerial Conference on Adult Literacy ("CIM alpha") bringing together the Ministers responsible for the five public schemes that support literacy actions. This agreement also establishes a permanent steering committee on adult literacy, which brings together the administrations concerned and representatives of the associative sector in order to propose to the CIM ways of articulating and coordinating literacy policies in different sectors ;
• A Skills Validation Consortium has been established which brings together representatives of five public institutions for continuing vocational training – one falling within the competence of the French Community (adult education), and the others within that of the Regions (Forem, Bruxelles Formation, IFAPME and sfpme) ;
• A quality agency for vocational training and validation of competences has been set up within Formaform. The quality of adult learning and validation of competences systems is crucial to ensure the matching of people’s skills to the needs of the labour market, to ensure the recognition, updating or upskilling of people, to strengthen the credibility of the training system, in particular when the learning outcomes targeted by the training are subject to certification. Established within Formaform and operational until the end of 2025, its positioning, missions and scope of action are currently being worked on as part of the systemic reform.

The main thrusts of French-speaking Belgian policy on lifelong education and training are presented in particular in the declarations made by the various relevant governments on their entry into office.

During the 2019-2024 parliamentary term, an inventory and reform scenarios for dual vocational and qualifying education, adult education and vocational training were carried out at the initiative of French-speaking governments. The Community Policy Declaration (CPD) and the Walloon Regional Policy Declaration (RPD) 2024-2029 contain a common chapter on ‘Regions, Federation, workers and employers united for employment and training’, making strengthening the quality of our vocational training and education a priority subject.

In September 2024 and June 2025, the Joint Government of the Walloon Region and the French Community adopted an orientation note on the systemic reform of Qualifying Education, Adult Education and Vocational Training.

The orientation note on the Systemic Reform aims to :

• Reaffirm and detail the choices made and objectives set out in the RPD and CPD and structure them into 13 potential areas of work, in order to give the structure and main orientations of the forthcoming Reform ;
• To propose to the Governments a method of operationalisation ;
• Indicate the first priorities for the legislature.

The 13 areas of work in the note are as follows :

1. Orientation towards qualifying education and training as well as promotion and information on professions ;
2. Relevance and efficiency of the supply of qualifying education and training – up-to-date in relation to the realities of the professions ;
3. Collaboration between education and the world of work, and support for employment ;
4. Quality qualifying education and training for all, qualifications and learning fluidity ;
5. Combating early school leaving ;
6. Exploitation of data potential ;
7. Quality infrastructure and equipment ;
8. Development of dual vocational education and training for young people ;
9. Development of dual vocational education and training for adults ;
10. Participation in vocational training ;
11. Support for people who are far from employment ;
12. Financing ;
13. Organisation of the ecosystem.

Cross-cuttingly, all of these areas aim to improve intra-French-speaking collaboration on cross-policy issues and to simplify the ecosystem by considering bringing together the cross-cutting bodies for coordination, regulation and steering in a common education-training dome, starting with the French-Speaking Office of Dual Vocational Training (Office Francophone de la Formation en Alternance) and developing it into a common dome.

The RPD and this Systemic Reform are part of a broader European context, as defined by the Herning Declaration. Connections between the objectives and actions of the RPD and, more specifically, the Systemic Reform, must be established with the guiding principles of the Herning Declaration, in order to ensure optimal coherence and synergies and demonstrate all the efforts of the Walloon Region to align with the European objectives for attractive, inclusive and competitive vocational training.

In Wallonia, DPR 2024-2029 also plans to strengthen employment, training and guidance policies, with a focus on faster and more personalised activation of jobseekers, particularly in relation to the professions in shortage and the sectors of the future. It aims to improve access to higher education and lifelong learning, develop dual vocational pathways and step up cooperation with businesses to adapt training provision to the real market needs.

The DPR also plans to consolidate competences certification and validation schemes, in order to ensure better recognition of career paths and facilitate worker mobility. It also insists on simplifying the institutional employment and training landscape, in order to make the schemes more legible and effective for citizens. Finally, it fully integrates the challenges of the digital and green transition, ensuring that training and orientation pathways prepare workers for technological changes and sustainability imperatives.