Flemish Minister-President Jan Jambon apologised on Sunday for his comments on Friday about closing nursery and primary schools during the last week before the end-of-year holidays.
Jan Jambon had suggested that the pedagogical impact would be “small anyway”, as it is a week with “a little party here, a little reading there,” according to Belga news agency.
This statement did not go down well with the schools, which has led the minister-president to clarify his thoughts on Sunday on the TV channel VTM.
“I have a lot of respect for people in education. If I have hurt anyone, I would like to apologize.”
Jan Jambon claimed he wanted to emphasize that the closure a week before the Christmas holidays would have a more limited educational impact than an immediate closure of two weeks which had initially been recommended by experts.
