No more December examinations in community education in future  

As of the coming school year, the December examinations will no longer be held in the standard secondary schools of the Community Education System (GUW) at all levels. With this decision, the Minister of Education is creating the framework conditions for a changed and modern assessment of performance. As the responsible body for the GUW, she is following the recommendation of her school headmasters. For many years, a working group consisting of the headmasters of all GUW regular secondary schools, staff of the Department of Education and the Cabinet of the Minister of Education has been dealing with the development of performance assessment and evaluation in the GUW. At the suggestion of this group, the Minister of Education, as the responsible body for the GUW, has decided to abolish the December examinations in the 2nd and 3rd secondary levels as well, having already abolished them in the 1st secondary level four years ago.  

Laptops for secondary students and apprentices arrived at schools   

The first 1,800 laptops for 1st and 2nd year secondary students and 1st year apprentices were delivered to educational institutions today. The government is successively equipping all secondary school students and apprentices with laptops within three school years. Parents and students can find more information on the website www.ostbelgienbildung.be/schuelerlaptops. All secondary school students and trainees receive ASUS laptops (model BR1100) for their lessons. It is a 2-in-1 device that can be used both as a classic laptop and as a tablet. The case is light and robust and therefore well suited for everyday school use. A protective cover is also included in the scope of delivery.  

The overall vision update

The "Overall Vision - Shaping Education for the Future" lays the foundations for a sustainable and equitable education system in East Belgium. The aim of all efforts is both to improve the professional framework conditions for teachers and to promote the educational opportunities of the younger generation. In dialogue with regional education stakeholders and citizens, as well as with the support of external experts, the course is currently being set for the future of the education region of East Belgium. 
Within the framework of an intensive diagnosis, the current and future fields of action of the education system in East Belgium have been identified in recent months. Based on this, appropriate solution strategies are being developed. All findings will be incorporated into an implementation plan that will show the perspectives until 2030 and beyond. 
In 2020, a broad online survey and several discussion forums produced a comprehensive picture of opinions on the current strengths and challenges of the education system in East Belgium. Around 3,800 interested citizens and education stakeholders actively participated in this dialogue, which is a very high level of participation given the small size of East Belgium. Individual reform and pilot projects have been strengthened, continued or launched as a result. 
The surveyed opinion was supplemented by an expert view from outside. Using objective international comparative data, an interdisciplinary team from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) analysed how effective, efficient and equal opportunities the school system in East Belgium is. The OECD analysts also examined which successful solution strategies from other education systems can be transferred to East Belgium. Corona-related developments as well as results from previous working groups on service reform have also been included in the analysis. The report on the results will be presented in March 2022. 
Based on the OECD report and the feedback from the various education stakeholders (participation forums, online survey), a vision will be developed and concerted with the stakeholders in the course of 2022. Based on this vision, concrete measures for the implementation of the education strategy will then be derived. The master plan should be available by 2024.  

Permanent contracts from the beginning of service for teachers :  

In view of the European priorities to ensure the quality and safety of the teaching profession, the German-speaking Community is also working hard to improve the quality of its teachers and trainers.   

And so, with the decree « sammeldekret » which presents new reforms in education and trainings: the coming school year teachers will receive a permanent employment contract from the beginning of their service, provided they have the required title and are appointed for at least one school year.  

   Such a measure does not exist anywhere in Belgium so far, partly because it is connected with time-consuming changes of legal texts. We are heralding a paradigm shift with the permanent contracts from the beginning of service, which will have a positive effect on the stability of the teams in our schools and thus facilitate school development processes. In addition, the recruitment effort will be reduced, as all those who are in order title-wise will no longer have to reapply, so that the school managements and sponsors will also be relieved and the bureaucratic effort will decrease. Last but not least, this is a measure to combat the shortage of teachers.  

Of course, this measure does not only affect those entering the teaching profession, but also those already working in the teaching profession. For lateral entrants, however, the acquisition of a teaching qualification is a condition for enjoying a permanent contract from the beginning of service in the future. Meanwhile, an analysis will be conducted in order to evaluate and monitor this complex and extensive measure.