Funding cuts to free school meals are threatening the continuity of hot meals in some primary and nursery schools.
The Belgian education administration has confirmed that the programme for free, healthy, and sustainable meals will not be renewed. Instead, its budget has been folded into the general framework for differentiated funding, leaving schools to decide how to allocate their resources.
While around 300 schools will see their overall budgets grow, 429 schools that previously relied on the programme face significant reductions. According to Education Minister Valérie Glatigny’s office, the new funding structure aims to be more equitable by extending resources beyond schools that participated in the prior initiative.
In recent years, schools serving the most disadvantaged students received specific subsidies to provide free hot meals. By 2024-2025, the funding for this programme was set at €21.4 million, alongside €10.7 million in complementary subsidies for socio-economically disadvantaged schools. This funding supported hiring non-teaching staff, purchasing equipment, and renovating facilities.
From the next school year, the free school meals programme will disappear, and €14 million of its budget will shift to the allocation for complementary subsidies, which will itself be reduced. This change shrinks the total funding pool from €32 million to €19 million. According to Laetitia Bergers from Belgium’s Catholic Education Secretariat, earlier assurances that schools could maintain free meals under the new system now appear unfeasible.
This shift in funding raises concerns about the ability of schools to continue offering free hot meals to students from low-income families, as they struggle to cope with the reduced resources.
