Education in Belgium

1. Education in Belgium The different levels of education in Flanders Education in Belgium is regulated and for the larger part financed by one of the three communities: Flemish, French and German-speaking. All three communities have a unified school system with small differences from one community to another. The national government plays a very small role: it decides directly the age for mandatory schooling and indirectly the financing of the communities. The schools can be divided in three groups : Schools owned by the communities (GO! Onderwijs van de Vlaamsegemeenschap; réseau de la Communautéfrançaise) Subsidized public schools (officieelgesubsidieerdonderwijs; réseauofficielsubventionné), organized by provinces and municipalities Subsidized free schools (vrijgesubsidieerdonderwijs; réseaulibresubventionné), mainly organized by an organization affiliated to the Catholic church The latter is the largest group, both in number of schools and in number of pupils. Education in Belgium is compulsory between the ages of 6 and 18.

2. History • In the past there were conflicts between state schools and catholic schools, and disputes whether the latter should be funded by the government. The 1958 School Pact was an agreement of the three large political parties to end these conflicts. • The 1981 state reform transferred some matters from the federal Belgian level to the communities. A few years later, in 1988, the majority of educational matters was transferred. Nowadays, very few general matters are regulated on a national level. The current ministries for education are the Flemish Government, the Government of the French Community and the Government of the German-speaking Community for each community respectively. Brussels, being bilingual French-Dutch, has both schools provided by the Flemish and French-speaking community. Municipalities with language facilities often have schools of two communities (Dutch-French or German-French) as well. Stages of education The different stages of education are the same in all communities: • • Basic education (Dutch: basisonderwijs; French: enseignementfondamental), consisting of • o Preschool education (kleuteronderwijs; enseignementmaternel): -6 years • o Primary school (lager onderwijs; enseignementprimaire): 6–12 years • Secondary education (secundaironderwijs; enseignementsecondaire): 12–18 years Higher education (hogeronderwijs; enseignementsupérieur) • o University (universiteit; université) • o Polytechnic/Vocational university (hogeschool; haute école)

3. Education in Italy Education in Italy iscompulsoryfrom 6 to 16 yearsofage, and isdividedintofivestages: kindergarten (scuola dell'infanzia), primaryschool (scuola primaria), lowersecondaryschool (scuola secondaria di primo grado), upper secondaryschool (scuola secondaria di secondo grado) and university (università). Italy hasboth public and private educationsystems.

4. Primary education Scuolaprimaria(primary school), also known as scuolaelementare, is commonly preceded by three years of non-compulsory nursery school (or kindergarten). Scuolaelementare lasts five years. Until middle school, the educational curriculum is the same for all pupils: although one can attend a private or state-funded school, the subjects studied are the same (with the exception of special schools for the blind or the hearing-impaired). The students are given a basic education in Italian, English, mathematics, natural sciences, history, geography, social studies, physical education and visual and musical arts. Until 2004, pupils had to pass an exam to access Scuolasecondaria di primo grado (Lower secondary school), comprising the composition of a short essay in Italian, a written math test, and an oral test on the other subjects. The exam has been discontinued and pupils can now enter Scuolasecondaria di Primo Grado directly.

5. Scuolasecondaria di primo grado The Scuolasecondaria di primo gradolasts three years (roughly from age 11 to 13), and provides further education on the subjects studied at the scuolaprimaria, with the addition of Technology and a language other than English (typically French, Spanish or German). The curriculum is the same for all schools. At the end of the third year students sit an exam which enables them to continue their education. Scuolasecondaria di secondogrado The Scuolasecondaria di secondogradolasts five years (even though some istitutiProfessionali might offer a diploma after only three years). Every type involves an exam at the end of the final year, called Esame di Maturità, required to gain a diploma and have access to further education. The secondary school situation varies, since there are several types of schools differentiated by subjects and activities. The main division is between the Liceo, the IstitutoTecnico and the IstitutoProfessionale. Any kind of secondary school that lasts 5 years grants access to the final exam, called Esame di Statoconclusivo del corso di studio di IstruzioneSecondaria Superiore or Esame di Maturità. This exam takes place every year between June and July and grants access to University. The "Liceo”today, refers to a class of secondary schools oriented towards the study of the arts and sciences. All of the Licei have many subjects in common, such as Italian Literature, or Mathematics, while other subjects are peculiar to a particular type of Liceo (i.e. Ancient Greek in the LiceoClassico, pedagogy in the LiceodelleScienzeUmane or scenography in the LiceoArtistico).

6. Laurea specialistica Age 18,19 2 1 Laurea Istruzione e formazione superiore Università 3 2 1 Formazione tecnica superiore Esame di Stato 5 5

7. REFORMS ON THE WAY • The introductionof Latinas a compulsorysubject in all Licei(exceptfor the arts and the music licei) • English as a compulsorysubjectfor 5 years in all licei • Moreteaching hours for mathematics, physics and sciences • Theintroduction of CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) in the fifth grade which foresees theteaching of a subject through a foreign language • The exploitation of economic and legal studies