David Leisterh, president of the Brussels MR, has expressed concern over the lack of a joint week off between Flanders and the children of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation from next year. This might pose problems for many families and schools, leading to a request to adjust the new school calendar. The Minister-President of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation and the Minister of Compulsory Education have initiated the reform of school timetables, which has resulted in an extended All Saints and Carnival holiday by a week with the start of the school year being brought forward. However, the Flemish Region has not adopted these changes, affecting around 90,000 children. The MR is not agitating an alternative majority but is urging the Minister of Compulsory Education to guarantee weeks of joint leave between the communities for each semester in the following years. The year 2026-2027 may be even more problematic as the current decree does not allow for any leave between communities, and the MR plans to make the modification of the calendar a condition of the government agreement if Flanders does not follow the French-speaking countries.
“From next year, we will find ourselves in a situation that we feared: there will be no joint week off between Flanders and the children of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation”, launches David Leisterh (MR), president of the Brussels MR. “This poses organizational problems for many families, but also for some schools. We cannot, at MR Brussels and Periphery, close our eyes.
Les Engagés had already proposed in March to adjust the new school calendar. But this time, the request comes from a tenor from the same party as Pierre-Yves Jeholet. The Minister-President of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation (FWB) leads the government which initiated the reform of school timetables, via the Minister of Compulsory Education Caroline Désir (PS).
The subject is sensitive within the MR and is particularly dear to Sophie Wilmès, still very active at the top of the party and alderman of a commune on the outskirts (Rhode-Saint-Genèse).
“The total number of children directly affected by the reform is estimated at 90,000, because they are schooled in Dutch, in immersion or in municipalities with facilities”insists a representative of the Union of Parents of Dutch Immersion Schools (UPIN), which recently submitted an interim report to Minister Caroline Désir.
Because the last school year was the occasion for a calendar revolution in nursery, primary and secondary education in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. The All Saints and Carnival holidays have thus been extended by a week with the start of the school year being brought forward to Monday 29 August.
Big downside: the Flemish Region, like the German-speaking Community, has not changed its calendar.
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Changes, but only from 2024-2025
“I want to emphasize that this is a good reform in the interest of the childshade David LEISTERH. However, there are specificities of Brussels which must be taken into account. This is why we pleaded, at the Brussels level at the time, for there to be a parallelism of the reform with Flanders. I regret that Flanders did not follow. I also regret that the reform of the Minister of Compulsory Education did not include this request.“
The MR puts pressure, without however agitating the threat of an alternative majority.
The request to modify the calendar also relates to the 2024-2025 school year, and not to next year. “A decree change so as not to find ourselves in the situation we will experience in 2024 should have taken place. But I understand that there is no majority to do this”, constate David Leisterh. “On the other hand, for the following years, the calendar will be specified by decree. In this context, we are asking Minister Désir to guarantee weeks of joint leave between the communities, for each semester. This will be technically possible for 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 and we ask that this is indeed the case.”
The year 2026-2027 promises to be even more problematic since the decree, as it stands, does not allow to stick the slightest week of leave between communities. Caroline Désir is counting on the fact that, by then, Flanders will have followed in the footsteps of the French-speaking countries. “If this is not the case, we will make the modification of the calendar a condition of the MR in the government agreement”warns David Leisterh.
As the debate over the new school calendar in Belgium continues, the MR Brussels and Periphery continue to raise concerns over the lack of joint week off between Flanders and the children of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. With an estimated 90,000 children directly affected by the reform, the MR is putting pressure on Minister of Compulsory Education Caroline Désir to guarantee weeks of joint leave between the communities for each semester from 2024-2025 onwards. While some hope that Flanders will eventually follow in the French-speaking countries’ footsteps, the MR remains vigilant and warns that the modification of the calendar may become a condition of the government agreement in the future.