About 900 teachers from Flemish Catholic primary schools in Brussels gathered at the Basilica of Koekelberg on Thursday to launch the new school year, in a first, attended by Flemish ministers Cieltje Van Achter and Zuhal Demir.
Some 35,000 children will return to Dutch-language primary education in Brussels this year. Of those, 16,500 are enrolled in the Catholic school network.
They begin the school year under renewed and ambitious minimum attainment targets, embedded in the Op.stap curriculum.
The gathering focused on educational innovation and the specific challenges of teaching in Brussels.
Bruno Vanobbergen, director-general of Flemish Catholic education, said the new curriculum was designed to help primary schools meet the updated minimum targets by prioritising teaching quality, a knowledge-rich programme and equal opportunities for every pupil.
He said the event was also intended as a clear show of support for school teams facing a major challenge.
The initiative was backed by Flemish Education Minister Zuhal Demir and the Flemish Minister for Brussels, Cieltje Van Achter, both of whom attended.
Demir said Brussels teachers encountered both the richness and the complexity of society in their classrooms every day, with each child arriving with a unique background.
“Our mission is to ensure that all of them leave with solid foundations,” she said.
She added that seeing 900 teachers join forces showed the strength of education in Brussels.
“Equal opportunities do not begin by lowering the bar, but with the conviction that every child can clear it,” Demir said.
