Have municipalities - and therefore pupils - been deprived of teachers over the last ten years? Yes, say teachers' unions and local politicians. The root cause is a 2009 reform which handed the management and financing of teaching personnel to the government. The Minister of Education at the time, Mady Delvaux, intended for children across all municipalities to be given equal resources and opportunities.
While this goal may have been reached, the quality of teaching has suffered throughout, says Patrick Remakel, the president of the teachers' union SNE. Because municipalities with lower costs had served as a model, this invariably meant those who were employing fewer staff.
Francine Vanolst, head of the general directorate for primary schooling at the Ministry of Education, disagrees with this assessment. Staffing has been increased, she says, by adding specialised support personnel for weaker students, for instance, or additional positions for municipalities who welcomed immigrants. According to Patrick Remakel, for kids without special needs this may help a little, but not enough to compensate the loss.
A further point of criticism: the ministry estimates an average of 16 pupils per class in order to calculate the number of hours a municipality is due. This too leads to inequalities: if one school year has only 11 kids, the school is forced to put 21 children in another class. The estimate should be reduced to 15, says Remakel. The ministry counters that municipalities who cannot balance small class numbers out are able to request additional support.
The social index is another factor influencing the funding calculation. Municipalities with more socially deprived families can receive up to 20% additional school hours. This number should be at least 25%, says the union.
Once things are back to normal post-pandemic, the Ministry of Education will review the situation and make adjustments, if necessary.
