Flanders

Figure A.1, taken from Eurydice Cedefop (1995), reflects the structure of the educational curriculum in Flanders. It is to be noted that the federal state (Belgium) is competent mainly for the legislation relating to compulsory education, which runs on a full-time basis from the age of 6 until 16, and on a part-time basis until the age of 18. The linguistic communities rule all other matters.

Compulsory education thus starts with primary school (from the age of 6 until 12), although participation in nursery school (age 3-6) is virtually generalised. During the spring of 1997, the Flemish Government proposed excluding children aged 2; this decision was heavily contested because of its possible negative consequences on equality of opportunities.

In secondary education, two ‘types’ (traditional and renewed) have coexisted for many years. Since the beginning of the 1990s, a ‘unified structure’ has been imposed, combining elements of both types. Secondary school now starts – at least theoretically – with a comprehensive cycle of two years. Then follows an ‘orientation’ cycle, also of two years, and a ‘determination’ cycle of two (sometimes three) years.

Compared with traditional secondary education, the philosophy behind the reform has been to postpone study orientation decisions until the age of 14 (start of the second cycle), whereas they were made at 12 in the previous period. In reality, the reform seems to have had a rather limited impact. Pupils who have had learning problems in primary school enter secondary education in so-called ‘b classes’, which are supposed to allow them to catch up with their fellows at a later stage.

However, Van de Velde et al (1996a) found that over 95% of starters in ‘b’ classes went on in a ‘b-stream’ where the second year is a preparation for vocational education. This vocational education is generally regarded as the ‘weaker’ stream. Within the ‘a-stream’, students are oriented to a ‘general option’ or a ‘technical option’ from the second year on. Again, all sorts of transitions are allowed for in theory, but according to Van de Velde et al (1996a), the transition from the technical option in the second year to general education in the next cycle is extremely rare (5%).