2025
Monitoring Committee : 28/02/2025
The Government of the French Community approved at second reading the draft decree setting up a Monitoring Committee, which will ensure the proper implementation and sustainability of the new pedagogical references guides within schools.
The core curriculum continues to be rolled out with the entry into force of new learning references guides. These are gradually being implemented to replace the old "core skills". These references guides have been designed with the aim of providing all pupils with a common background of knowledge, know-how and skills, which will help to strengthen the mastery of learning and to fight failure and repetition, as well as to promote the orientation of pupils.
In order to ensure that these new references guides are correctly deployed in schools, a Monitoring Committee for Core Curriculum references guides has been set up. Its purpose is simple : assess the implementation of pedagogical references guides and measure their effectiveness and sustainability, based on data collected through field observations and teacher surveys. The committee will also make recommendations to improve support, adapt the references guides or refine teaching tools.
Every two years, a report will be issued to present the results of the monitoring, including an analysis of the state of implementation of these references guides. It will include concrete measures to improve their deployment, such as the adaptation of training or teaching tools, as well as suggestions to revise, if necessary, the references guides.
Specific communication will be sent to the educational teams to ensure smooth implementation and avoid any administrative overload.
2024
Continuing vocational training of the members of the educational teams of the schools and PMS centers : 08/11/2024
The Government of the French Community has adopted a draft decree aimed at modifying the orientations and priority themes of the continuing vocational training of the members of the educational teams of the schools and PMS centers of the French Community for the period 2024-2030.
New training will now be provided to teachers and CPMS staff to enable them to be properly equipped to better understand the new challenges facing society today and in the future:
- to deal with the rise of extremism, in order to enable teachers to better understand this growing phenomenon in our schools,
- better take into account and understand the digital transition and the challenges of artificial intelligence (AI), in particular its implications for the teaching and learning of students, or the development of critical thinking among students,
- better evaluate and thus be at the service of students' learning,
- be in tune with the adaptations necessary for teaching in connection with language immersion.
The Government of the French Community presented its 2025 budget jointly with that of the Walloon Region : 16/10/2024
- Promoting the teaching profession and tackling shortages
In order to tackle the shortage of teachers, the previous experience of teachers from other professional sectors will be valued for up to 7 years if they come to fill a shortage function. The system of pools of replacement teachers will be extended to two additional areas, from 48 to 70 FTE.
A progressive system of rebalancing between the various education networks will make it possible, on the one hand, to improve the funding of public and government-dependent private schools and, on the other hand, to put into practice in ten years the ‘one pupil = one pupil’ principle.
Finally, a significant investment in the digitalisation of education will be made, in particular to improve the schooling of sick children via digital tools, as well as that of the administration by developing a digital platform for managing the payroll of teaching staff.
- Additional resources for young people and for the transition.
Additional resources have also been made available for key new policies.
Youth Aid is in dire need of resources to work on issues that were largely identified during the previous parliamentary term. New resources have therefore been provided, despite a financially complex context, for new policies that will be initiated and developed in the continuity of the policy pursued in this area. The priority objective will be to open residential and outpatient places in line with the needs of young people and their families.
Early childhood care is a crucial issue in this legislature. Promoting quality care for children and allowing each parent who wishes to find a place in a nursery are objectives that complement each other.
The ONE management contract, which runs until the end of 2025, sets out the guidelines for policies in favour of children. All these policies are financed in 2025.
- Contained growth of the deficit
This takeover of public finances will make it possible for this legislature to stop the growth of the deficit, despite the impact of the increase in the pension accountability contribution (+€267 million annually by 2029), the financing of the Exceptional Investment Plan (on average €200 million annually from 2025 to 2029), an increase in interest charges (+€329 million annually by 2029) and the deterioration of the student key (€168 million less annual revenue by 2029).
According to current forecasts, the deficit is therefore expected to amount to €1,287 million in 2025, compared to €1,225 million in 2024.
While a slight increase in the deficit is still to be expected in 2026, the effect of the policies implemented should, on the other hand, make it possible to gradually reduce the deficit from 2027 onwards, in line with the stabilisation path set.
Prohibition of the recreational use by pupils of mobile phones : 02/10/24
The Government of the French Community has decided to prohibit the recreational use by pupils of mobile phones and other connected electronic devices in pre-primary, primary and secondary schools in the French Community, all networks combined, from the start of the 2025-2026 school year. The aim is to improve the quality of learning and the school climate.
The Government is thus following the recommendations of WHO (World Health Organization) and Unesco, which call for the banning of telephones in classrooms for adolescents over the age of 15 as well.
However, this prohibition in principle does not apply to the educational uses of smartphones, just as they can be used on leaving school, for example, when a parent contacts his or her child to arrange a meeting place to return home.
While respecting the freedom of organising authorities and schools, the new provisions leave it to schools to determine how to implement the prohibition (which cannot be derogated from), as well as the penalties for non-compliance.
Pupils with a disability or a health condition that requires the use of a medical device that combines communication equipment will of course be exempted from this prohibition.
Decree on the educational approach to guidance : 16/05/2024
The government is emphasising the educational approach to guidance. This aims to :
- developing pupils' ability to take action on their career path, but also becoming aware of the constraints and limits on this ability to take action ;
- identifying and criticising the factors, explicit and implicit, which influence choices, including the choice of direction to be made at the end of the core curriculum ;
- transforming knowledge and observations into choices and the actions that make them a reality ;
- developing various scenarios for their future and be able to project themselves into them ;
- becoming aware of the open-ended nature of their choices and of the prospects offered by lifelong learning, particularly in the context of professional development ;
- discovering different professional environments and their diversity, and becoming aware of both the societal contributions and the ethical issues and prospects for socio-professional integration linked to these different socio-professional worlds ;
- linking knowledge, subject-specific or cross-curricular know-how or skills, worked on in class, with the streams and options that open up after the core curriculum and with professional spheres and occupations ;
- discovering the various training options available at the end of the core curriculum ;
meeting different types of people to help them plan their careers.
2023
Decree of 31st March 2022 on the creation of the Pupil’s Accompanying File (Dossier d'Accompagnement de l'Élève = DAccE) : entry into force in Septembre 2023
Launch of a groundbreaking tool known as the DAccE (Dossier d’Accompagnement de l'Élève = Pupil’s Accompanying File). Initially implemented for students from the 1st year of Pre-Primary education to the 4th year of Primary education in mainstream schools, its reach will gradually expand to encompass all students within the core curriculum of ordinary and specialised compulsory education.
The DAccE plays a pivotal role in the new core curriculum, which is a part of the Pact for Excellence in Teaching. Its primary objective is to introduce a "progressive" approach to learning difficulties, ensuring that all students in need of it benefit from personalised monitoring and support. More concretely, each pupil will benefit from personalised monitoring and support, enabling them to receive more sustained and tailored attention. Through the DAccE, persistent difficulties can be identified, and the support provided can be monitored, evaluated, and adjusted accordingly. The DAccE enables educational teams to monitor the child's progress and ensure continuity of learning. It also grants parents access, allowing them to communicate with the educational team and closely monitor their child's needs.
Being a digital and individual tool, DAccE will accompany all pupils from Pre-primary to the end of secondary school, in mainstream and specialised education, even if they change schools or move on to another level.
Qualifying education reform adopted by Parliament : 22/06/2023
The draft decree reforming the governance of options in qualifying education was adopted on 22 June 2023.
The new system has achieved its two objectives: the programming and rationalisation of options in the provision of qualifying education.
The development of the qualifying pathway (bridging with transition education, merging with vocational education, organising work placements, etc.) will continue as part of the Pact for Excellence in Teaching, in particular with the creation of a "post-common core" working group.
2nd reading for the preliminary draft decree on the support, development of professional skills and assessment of teaching staff : 28/04/2023
On 28 April, the Government approved, at 2nd reading, the preliminary draft decree on the support, development of professional skills and assessment of teaching staff. The Government confirmed that the text would comprise two distinct mechanisms, in line with the guidelines set out by education stakeholders in 2017 as part of the adoption of the Opinion number 3 of the Pact for Excellence in Teaching :
- the professional skills support and development mechanism, which is aimed at the positive reinforcement of staff members ;
- the appraisal mechanism, which can only be activated in the event of clear and repeated failure on the part of a member of staff, after all the stages of the support mechanism have been implemented.
However, a number of other changes have again been made to the text with the same objective as those previously incorporated : to provide, at the heart of the appraisal procedure, guidelines that protect the rights of members of staff at least as much as those provided for in existing disciplinary procedures. The decree will come into force on 1 January 2024, but summative assessment procedures will not be able to begin until the start of the new academic year in 2026.
Initial measures in the context of the reform of the systems and landscape of vocational education and training : 10/11/2022
Last spring, the Governments of the French Community, Wallonia and the Brussels-Capital Region adopted a joint note aimed at defining and initiating the implementation of a transversal roadmap with the aim of structurally rethinking the systems and landscape of vocational education and training, and in particular dual vocational education. On 10th November 2022 and in line with these decisions, the Government of the French Community decided to initiate a priority action plan aimed at supporting the deployment of dual vocational education and training courses. As a reminder, the different governments had, in their joint note, defined a two-stage methodology. On the one hand, a longer-term mission was entrusted to a steering committee made up of representatives of the competent ministers and the APE association (Aides à la Promotion de l’Emploi = Aid for Employment Promotion) in order to carry out a cross-sectional inventory of vocational education and training, and in particular of dual vocational education. This inventory will serve as a basis for the governments to define and launch the implementation of a roadmap to reform and boost the dual vocational education and training sector, while making it a sector of excellence. On the other hand, a short-term approach, aimed at adopting a very concrete priority action plan in order to provide a rapid response to the problems of learners, providers and companies, all within a concerted framework shared by all levels of government.
Four priority objectives have been defined :
- Promote, in a logic of articulation and complementarity between dual vocational education, training providers, social advancement education and higher education ;
- Simplify procedures and encourage the valorisation of achievements between education and training providers in order to guarantee the continuum of learning ;
- Improve IT tools to match offers and requests for work placements in collaboration with the different stakeholders ;
- Promote and deploy dual vocational education and training schemes that lead to sustainable and quality employment.
Launch of a plan to fight structurally against harassment and cyber-bullying in schools and to improve the school climate : 10/11/2022
On the proposal of the Minister of Education, the Government of the French Community approved, in second reading, the preliminary draft decree on the improvement of the school climate and the prevention of harassment and cyber-bullying in schools. This text establishes a common reference framework programme for schools to carry out coordinated, sustainable and structural actions aimed at preventing school harassment and improving the school climate. It also provides for the selection and funding of operators who will be able to offer support for the development and implementation of a school's framework programme. In addition, the decree will also provide the French Community with a School Climate Observatory, whose tasks will include :
- Research and evaluation of the structural policy on school climate, prevention and fight against harassment and cyber-bullying in schools ;
- The provision of tools and the monitoring of framework programmes ;
- Networking of actors.