About 27% of children in Flemish areas just outside Brussels go to French-language schools in the capital or Wallonia, Het Laatste Nieuws reported on Monday, quoting figures from the Flemish Agency for Education Services, AGODI. For the 2016-2017 academic year, 17,368 (27%) out of 64.292 students aged 6 to 18 years living in such areas attended French-speaking schools.
The municipalities from which most of the French-speaking students came were the communes with linguistic facilities of Drogenbos (60%), Linkebeek (59%) and Rhodes-Saint-Genèse (46%). The percentage of these commuting students is expected to increase by 10% in the next three years.
“Education is the main leverage we have as the Flemish Community to integrate people and maintain the Flemish character of the communes around Flemish Brussels,” commented Dilbeek Mayor Willy Segers, a parliamentarian from the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA). He thus hopes additional resources will be allocated to build schools in the Flemish areas around the capital.
The Brussels Times
