The organisation of the academic year 2025/2026 in the French Community of Belgium is as follows : 

Steering documents

As part of the reform of the Pact for Excellence in Teaching, all the learning content for children from the first year of pre-primary education to the third year of secondary education has been reviewed to define a new common core based on eight areas of learning, and knowledge and skills adapted to the 21st century, gradually replacing the core skills that had been used since 1997.

Alternative pedagogies

Several pre-primary schools have adopted teaching methods that are based on the educational principles of educationalists such as Decroly, Freinet or Steiner.  These institutions are often named after these pedagogues.

Immersion

Some pre-primary and primary schools practise a project of linguistic immersion in German, English or Dutch from the third year of pre-primary education.

Objectives and accessibility

Individual care is delivered by childminders who either work independently (accueillant.e.s d’enfants indépendant.e.s) or employees within the Choldcare Service (accueillant.e.s d’enfants salariées). These childcare settings are the responsibility of the Birth and Childhood Office (Office de la Naissance et de l’Enfance (ONE)) of the French Community, which is under the authority of the Ministry of Childhood, Youth, Youth Support and Justice Centres.

Steering document

The Childcare Quality Code (17 December 2003) establishes a loose framework to guide professionals working with children in order to ensure high-quality care for all children. All childcare settings must comply with it. The code aims to :
•    guarantee a care system that takes into account the multiplicity of needs of children, in particular those concerning their physical, psychological, social, cognitive and emotional development ;

Admission requirements and choice of setting

Pre-primary education caters for children aged 2.5 years (on 30 September of the current school year) to 5 years or, in exceptional cases, 6 years.
From the 2020/2021 school year, compulsory schooling applies to all children who are at least 5 years old by 31 December.
Parents have a free choice regarding the school attended by their child.

Admission requirements and choice of ECEC setting

There are various forms of childcare from which parents are free to choose: in a centre-based or home-based setting, subsidised or non-subsidised.

In the French Community of Belgium, parents register their future child before birth.  The organising authority cannot accept a request for childcare before the third month of pregnancy.