With households facing ever-increasing prices of all kinds, an average of one Flemish student within each secondary school class has started the school year without the necessary schoolbooks, according to a report from the Het Nieuwsblad.
In the last couple of months, Belgian households have been forced to sacrificed necessities to deal with rising prices of inflation, caused by the war in Ukraine.
This has now spread to education, according to figures compiled by Krijt (the Dutch translation of chalk), an association that works towards making education affordable for all.
According to their report, which went through 31,875 pupils in 51 Flemish schools, 5% of secondary school students in Flanders have started the school year without the necessary books, compared to 3% last year.
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This seems to have confirmed earlier fears set out by the Family League that school supplies were getting too expensive for students, as schoolbooks now cost a total of €192, according to Catholic Education Flanders.
Furthermore, this situation is not expected to improve any time soon, as Krijt's coordinator Colette Victor stated that "we are fearful for next year as most households are yet to receive their energy bills."
This has also led to the Flemish Education Minister Ben Weyts' 'Digisprong' programme, intended to equip every pupil with a laptop from their final years of primary school onwards, to come under fire.
As a result of his initiative, Flemish households now have to pay for both of their children's books and laptops, instead of the original plan lowering the number of books to be bought by students.
