Most parents are happy with Belgian schools

22 March 2005

BRUSSELS – Eight out of 10 parents in the French-speaking part of Belgium are happy with their children’s education, according to a new survey.

On Tuesday, newspapers owned by Vers L’Avenir and the radio programme Vivacite on RTBF reported that parents are happy with the standard of teachers, with the quality of their classes, their relationships with pupils and their availability to parents.

However, almost a third of mothers and fathers felt schools had problems of violence, drugs and crime rackets.

When parents pick schools they prioritise the quality of the education, the reputation of the teaching and the development of their children.

The survey of 500 parents suggests mums and dads play an active role in their children’s development at school, with almost two-thirds (63 percent) claiming they attend all parent-teacher meetings and 45 percent saying they spend at least three hours a week helping their sons and daughters with their homework.

A total of 68 percent of parents feel children are being given enough homework and the majority (81 percent) is against scrapping Latin.

Subject: Belgian news