Flanders Education Minister Zuhal Demir (N-VA) has contacted the police after receiving threats from students angered by her plans to limit school holidays.
Demir has come under heavy criticism from teenagers since announcing last week that she intends to significantly reduce the number of pedagogical study days from the next school year.
The minister also wants pupils to receive as much classroom teaching as possible in the run-up to exams and to reduce the gap between final exams and the start of the summer holidays.
The proposals sparked an angry backlash online, with students voicing their opposition on social media and circulating a petition against the changes.
According to Demir, some messages went far beyond criticism and amounted to direct threats.
"I've seen posts where people added a crosshair or wrote, 'Be careful, or you'll be the next Charlie Kirk,'" she said to VRT. "That's not an opinion, that's a threat."
Her office said between 20 and 30 threatening messages were sent via different channels, mainly by email. All of them will now be forwarded to the police for investigation.
"I don't want to dramatise things," Demir said, "but threats against me, or my family, are unacceptable. That's where I draw the line. Those young people deserve a visit from the police."
