The Wallonia-Brussels Federation (FWB) does not have the financial means to abolish the fees charged to parents for school meals and lunchtime, Minister Caroline Désir (PS) said on Tuesday.
She was responding to urgings by the opposition Labour Party of Belgium , PTB, to end what it calls the “bread tax.”
Many schools in the federation also claim “chair fees,” for the organisation of lunchtime. According to the PTB, the average amount claimed from parents is about €140 per year for each child.
Asked at a commission hearing on Tuesday by PTB parliamentarian Jean-Pierre Kerckhofs whether the FWB should ban these levies, the minister replied that she did not have the budgets to compensate for the resulting financial losses: a ban would deprive schools of revenue they need to finance the organisation and supervision of lunchtime.
Ms. Désir stressed that lunchtime was not legally considered school time, for which, in theory, parents cannot be charged.
The minister recalled, however, that the government had decided since the beginning of the legislature to extend “free schooling” measures in the basic and early primary years. The government also provided assistance to schools during the energy crisis, she said.
In his reply, Kerckhofs said that the government’s attitude in this matter was not very responsible, since the assimilation of middays to school time is included in the majority agreement reached just under four years ago.
