The school calendars in Belgium’s different education systems are “unlikely” to be aligned in the near future, a spokesperson for the Flemish Education minister, Zuhal Demir (N-VA), told The Brussels Times.
While pupils in Belgium's French-speaking community started their Easter holidays on Monday, children going to Dutch-speaking schools have already been back in class for about a week.
The significant difference in the school calendars came about in 2022, when the French-speaking community (Wallonia-Brussels Federation, FWB) restructured its school year to improve the balance between lesson days and time off.
Although some have welcomed the change as a way to improve students’ education and wellbeing, others have criticised the impact of the different calendars for families with children in both school systems – something that particularly happens in Brussels.
The different schedules are especially problematic around Easter, as they don't usually align in the different language communities, unlike other holidays.
Not on the agenda
Several Flemish MPs recently called for more consultations between the language communities to better align calendars to increase the overlap of days off.
However, speaking to The Brussels Times, Demir's spokesperson, Olivier Van Raemdonck, affirmed that there “is currently no intention by Minister Demir to revise or reform the Flemish school calendar.”
“Education is a community competence, and both systems are based on different underlying choices and priorities,” he said. “Any deeper alignment would require political agreement on both sides, which is not currently on the agenda.”
Demir has previously stated before the Flemish Parliament that her cabinet's priorities would be focused on working on the quality of education, on language, and teacher training.
History of conflicting schedules
Attempts to address the conflicting schedules have been made in the past.
The French-speaking Education Minister, Valérie Glatigny (MR), met with her Flemish and German-speaking counterparts to discuss the matter when she took office in July 2024.
As the discussions did not lead to a solution, Glatigny asked her administration to amend the legislation to better align the holidays with other language communities, particularly for the school years with very little overlap in time off.
However, the proposed changes were never adopted by the French-speaking community as they were not approved by relevant stakeholders, including the federation of parents’ associations and trade union members, according to Glatigny's spokesperson, Johanne Moyart.
"We will continue to monitor developments on this issue in Flanders," Moyart confirmed to The Brussels Times.
The Brussels Times contacted the Education Minister for the German community, Jérôme Franssen (CSP), for comment, but it has not received a response as of the time of publication.
