A total of 124 Flemish teachers from primary and secondary schools are taking part in the first-ever Flemish Teachers’ Council this Saturday.
The initiative, launched by Education Minister Zuhal Demir (N-VA), aims to address teachers’ concerns while gathering ideas to reduce their administrative workload. Speaking at the Flemish Parliament, Demir said, “Today, you will give me homework, and I will work on it.”
From a pool of 2,300 applicants, 124 teachers were chosen to participate in discussions about easing the workload in education. Among them are Sofie Coppens from Explora Ronse and Lieselot Simoens from Da Vinci Campus Ronse. Coppens expressed hope that Demir would genuinely listen to teachers and understand the realities they face. “Hopefully, something concrete will come of this, and we won’t just be here to provide information without real action being taken.”
The main topic of Saturday’s discussions is the administrative burden on teachers, which participants argue could be significantly reduced. Simoens also called for a slower pace in implementing educational reforms, stressing the need to carefully consider the future direction of education.
