Digitalisation in Flemish schools takes leap forward

Over the past five years, digitalisation has taken a leap forward in Flemish education. Half of all primary school pupils and all secondary school pupils have access to a computer.

Every five years, the monitor for ICT integration in Flemish education measures how schools use computers. For the fourth edition, researchers surveyed 430 primary schools, 203 secondary schools, seven primary education centres and, for the first time in 2023, 11 adult education centres.

Shift towards mobile devices

The survey aims to provide a picture of ICT infrastructure in education, hardware and software and ICT use, ICT skills and media literacy. It shows that the number of computers available in schools has increased compared to five years ago. 

Half of all primary and all secondary students now have access to a computer. They are also no longer in a shared computer room, as researchers see a shift towards mobile devices such as laptops.

Whereas five years ago many devices were outdated, there now seem to be more new devices in primary and secondary schools. Other devices, such as digital projectors and blackboards, have remained fairly stable since the last monitor.

According to the researchers, the accelerated pace of digitisation in education is due to large investments. However, there is still work to be done in terms of ICT professionalisation for teachers "so they can effectively use the available digital resources".

"The digitalisation backlog has been turned into a head start," said Flemish Education minister Ben Weyts. "Our schools are more digital than ever and this is a strong lever for more quality education." 

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