New tool helps Catholic schools identify pupils who need extra Dutch lessons
Umbrella organisation Catholic Education Flanders has developed a new tool, known as the “kijkwijzer”, designed to help primary schools determine which pupils need to take three extra hours of Dutch in secondary education. The tool forms part of the Flemish government’s project ‘Ieder Kind Taalheld’ (‘Every Child a Language Hero’), aimed at improving proficiency in Dutch.
From the next school year, pupils who do not meet the minimum targets for Dutch at the end of primary school can be required to take three extra hours of Dutch in the first year of secondary education. The new tool is intended to support primary school class councils in making this assessment.
According to Catholic Education Flanders, the tool provides a well-founded framework for assessing language competencies more objectively. It examines five areas: oral language use and vocabulary, listening comprehension, reading fluency, text and reading comprehension, and writing.
It is emphasised that the tool is not an automatic decision-making model: the final decision remains with the class council. However, it should help to better justify the choice and provide sufficient information to the secondary school where the pupils in question will go.
According to Catholic Education Flanders, the measure can thus improve the transition between primary and secondary education. After all, the receiving school will receive more information about the pupil’s specific language needs.
At the same time, the education umbrella organisation points to potential practical problems. Both the extra language lessons in secondary education and the planned “language hero classes” in primary education require additional teachers with expertise in Dutch for non-native speakers. The organisation indicates that these are not always readily available, and that it also remains to be seen whether the total budget allocated by Flanders will be sufficient to cover all teaching hours, as this in turn depends on the number of pupils referred.
Catholic Education Flanders says it will continue to support schools in the coming months with training, professional development and - for secondary schools - a practical toolbox for implementing the extra language lessons.
#FlandersNewsService | Illustration © PHOTO BELPRESS / Jean-Luc Flémal
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