New school year begins for 1.2m pupils in Flemish education
More than 1.2 million children returned to school in Flanders on Monday. The new year brings a smartphone ban, stricter truancy rules and the first steps towards updated learning goals. French-speaking schools reopened last week.
A major change this year is the ban on smartphones and other devices. The rule applies fully in primary schools and the first two years of secondary. In the final years of secondary school, phones are only banned during lessons, and schools are free to decide whether to allow them outside class. Exceptions are made for medical or special needs.
Schools can also start using new minimum learning goals in primary education, though they will only become compulsory from 2026.
The goals, updated for the first time since 1997, set out in detail what pupils must learn in subjects such as Dutch, maths and science. Education officials describe them as a knowledge-rich framework intended to give teachers more clarity and pupils more structure.
Other reforms take effect as well: truancy rules are tougher, with parents of persistent absentees losing school allowances after a year instead of two; pupils with language difficulties will receive extra Dutch lessons; a new Catholic religion curriculum is being rolled out; and thousands of children in selected schools will receive healthy meals.
#FlandersNewsService | BELGA PHOTO ERIC LALMAND
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