Brussels primary school GBS Dertien decided to cancel Wednesday classes from the next school year in a bid to make the institution more attractive for teachers amid a nationwide shortage in the industry.
The school will make up for the missed classes by lengthening the other weekdays, starting classes earlier and reducing the lunch break, to sustain the existing weekly workload. Alderman of Education in Anderlecht Bieke Comer told RTL that such arrangements were necessary in order to "maintain the quality of the school."
Parents were naturally divided about the news, but the school has found a solution to accommodate children on Wednesdays, too, introducing workshops and activities with external partners in a daycare environment, "to allow the students to continue learning Dutch," said Comer.
One confused mother told the RTL about how the news were revealed almost overnight, with the initial speculation leaving parents guessing. "I had absolutely no idea that school was going to go from five days to four," she stated. The implications will only be seen once the changes come into effect in September, but the organisation of the workdays already provides a dilemma in a number of affected households.
There is currently an estimated 500-strong teacher shortage across Dutch-speaking schools in Brussels alone, making it challenging for all institutions to attract qualified professionals. A more hybrid, unorthodox schedule is therefore a creative solution that could potentially give way to more and more schools thinking outside the box as they compete for the services of the most adequate workforce.
