OECD gives Flanders a good education report, but has reservations

Although the aging population is considered to be the biggest problem Flemish education faces, the data in the OECD ‘Education at a Glance’ report show that Flanders’ teaching staff is not that old. At least, that is the case when compared to other countries. Over 40 percent of secondary teachers in the region are under 40, a statistic seen in few other nations. Moreover, since the late 1990s the number of young teachers in Flanders has increased more than in most other countries. Although this might seem like good news, Hugo Deckers of the socialist trade union ACOD points out that six out of ten teachers are still over 40 and will have to be replaced within the foreseeable future. According to the most reliable forecast, Flemish schools will be vainly trying to find some 20,000 teachers by 2020. An elementary school pupil costs Flemish education 6,500 euros a year – not just more than in neighbouring countries but also almost 500 euros above the OECD average. The major reason for this is the size of the classes, as smaller classes means more teachers and higher wage costs. The average Flemish primary school classroom has 13.6 pupils, while the OECD average is 17.1 pupils.  Ides Nicaise, an education expert at the Leuven Research Institute for Work and Society HIVA, says that in the past elementary education in Flanders had been underfunded and attempts had been made to recover lost ground in recent years. This includes additional support for underprivileged children.
Teachers in Flanders do not earn bad wages, and with a maximum salary in elementary education of 41,945 euros a year and of 53,000 euros in secondary education, their income is well above the OECD average. Starting salaries, at around 24,000 euros for all posts up to lower secondary and over 30,000 euros for higher secondary education, are also relatively high. Education minister Pascal Smet SP.A and the trade unions are set to negotiate a new collective agreement before the end of the year, with the unions hoping to get an incremental increase of the year-end bonus.
A major mark against Flemish education is the fact that children with poorly educated parents rarely feature in higher education. Only 11 percent of students at a Flemish college or university have a father or mother who did not graduate from secondary school. The chance of one of their younger brothers and sisters will also be able to study at a higher education school or university is only 33 percent. After the Czech Republic at 32 percent and Slovenia at 30 percent, this is the lowest average in Europe. The OECD believes that underprivileged children will only be able to advance to higher education if they start in the nursery school. Tests conducted on children aged 15 demonstrated that those who attended nursery school performed better than their peers who did not. Mieke Van Hecke, general director of the Flemish Secretariat for Catholic Education, acknowledged the problems. ‘This is primarily a problem amongst the children of immigrants,’ she said. ‘They have greater learning and language difficulties. They attend kindergarten in sufficient numbers, but the problem is they hardly speak Dutch in their free time.’