Flemish Minister for Brussels Cieltje Van Achter (N-VA) is launching her Total Plan for Dutch in Brussels, with which she aims to strengthen the position of Dutch in the capital. Among other things, she is targeting language skills among children and young people, she announced on Sunday.
Van Achter wants to use the Total Plan to bring existing and new initiatives together in one plan. The ambition is to get the entire Flemish network in Brussels to work more closely together on strengthening Dutch.
"The plan aims to encourage every Brussels resident to learn, practise and use Dutch. Brussels residents associate Dutch with progress. With this plan, I want to fully exploit the power of Dutch, in and for our capital," says Minister Van Achter.
On the one hand, the focus is on good language skills among children and young people. The reasoning is that children who come into contact with Dutch at an early age are more likely to continue using the language.
For Brussels residents, Dutch is also "the key to a better future". Dutch opens the way for adults to work, education and integration, it is said. A third pillar is the use of Dutch by the Brussels authorities, emergency services and emergency services. Language rights are often a dead letter, it is said. Van Achter wants to remedy this with, among other things, targeted cooperation.
"With this plan, we are focusing on a real 'language chain'. From birth to later life, you should be able to make use of high-quality Dutch language services," concludes the Minister of Brussels. "It should become self-evident that you can also practise and use Dutch in Brussels."
