According to the minister, the school rhythm had to be modified. This is why a school year will be organized in the future on a sequence of 7 weeks of lessons (6 at least, 8 at most), followed by two weeks of vacation: “Better regularity allows students to be placed in better learning conditions,” says Caroline Désir.
Small downside, however: German-speaking and Dutch-speaking children will keep the current traditional calendar. Unchanged situation also for higher education. This change of pace specific to French-speaking students can thus cause some concern for parents whose children attend different establishments: “I hope that the other communities will follow in our footsteps during the next government agreements. At the level of Minister Glatigny, there is a job for a reform of their rhythm. The ambition is to bring the holidays closer to each other”, specifies the Minister of Education.
Finally, Caroline Désir was asked regarding the entry into force of a common core for the 1st and 2nd primary. This will apply until secondary 3. All students enrolled in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation will therefore have to follow the same course programmes. Some take a dim view of this common core. Some consider it to be a race to the bottom. A position that the minister refutes: “I disagree: there are a lot of ambitions in this common core. You have to go and see the 9 new disciplinary references, they are online. We wanted to strengthen basic knowledge (calculation, writing, reading), then new subjects arrive, including manual, technical, digital training. And all our reforms will be evaluated each year”, she concludes.
