A number of schools around Charleroi were targeted by arson attacks on Tuesday evening, RTL Info reports, with several graffiti tags found at the sites of the fires, all of which were extinguished quickly.
The affected sites were all local primary schools: the École Nord, rue Gatti de Gamond; the Hublinbu school; École de la petite Chenevière in Marcinelle; and the Fond Jacques school in Couillet.
Damage from the fires was still visible on Wednesday morning. At the Hublinbu school, smoke could still be seen in the early hours of the morning. The door to the school was set ablaze shortly before 02:00. The school will remain closed.
The fires are now being officially treated as attempted arson by local emergency services. The Charleroi police zone said that a “criminal intention is suspected.”
It is suspected that the incidents are connected to rising anger among parents against the Wallonia-Brussels Federation (FWB)’s new EVRAS mandatory sexual and relationships education, which all French-speaking students will receive from the start of the academic year. At the scene of some of the fires, graffiti tags read “No EVRAS”.
Why is EVRAS controversial?
Credit: Centre d'action Laique
The new compulsory education has faced fierce opposition from religious groups as well as conservative families. Opponents complain that it will introduce the concepts of gender and sexual identity to children too early. They insist that it should be up to families to discuss these topics with their children.
Child psychiatrist Sophie Dechêne told RTL that some of the themes could be harmful to children. She claimed that children as young as five years old might learn about gender identity whilst from age nine themes relating to transsexuality and gender reassignment are introduced. Dechêne warned that these topics could be potentially “traumatic” for children at this young age.
Other topics that have angered parents are discussions of having multiple partners, sexting and nudes.
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But educational authorities have been quick to point out that the new textbook is a guide on how to deal with topics that arise in class and that teachers are not made to teach any topic which would clearly be inappropriate. It is unlikely that the entirety of the text will ever be seen by the students.
Moreover, the guide has been developed in close discussion with all relevant authorities, educational specialists, and health experts. They insist on the policy's suitability and argue that the guide has been misrepresented and is the subject of a scaremongering campaign.
FWB education minister Caroline Désir on Thursday called for calm: "We’re obviously not going to encourage hypersexualisation among young people, we’re not going to encourage sexual orientation or gender identity, we’re not going to give lessons in sexual practices. It’s unacceptable to frighten parents on this subject."
A classroom on the first day of the new school year at a kindergarden in Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve, Monday 28 August 2023. Credit: Belga
Harmonising education
On 8 September, several hundred people gathered in front of the Parliament of the French Community to protest the new text. Composed mostly of Islamic groups, the protestors decried the “hypersexualisation” of children and said that the text would infringe on students’ religious rights.
However, proponents of the policy have highlighted the disparity in levels of sexual education in different schools. EVRAS training courses have existed since 2012 in Belgium. The course does not cover exclusively sexual relations, but also relational and emotional life. Topics can include managing emotions, self-esteem, the role of family, and dealing with loss.
In addition, instructors will never take the initiative to introduce sexually charged topics, such as pornography or other topics, without having first been asked by pupils. The context of the textbook is also not fixed and may evolve over time.
For more information about EVRAS see here.
