Education in the Vlaamse Rand

A broad spectrum

As in the rest of Flanders, in the Vaamse Rand you will also find schools run by the official and the free education networks. Official education is organised by the Flemish authorities, the local authority or the provincial authorities. It is ideologically neutral. Free education is provided by private bodies and most of these schools are catholic.

>>> You will find information about the range of education offered in the Vlaamse Rand and the addresses of schools here.

Extra support for non-Dutch-speaking children

Dutch language schools in the Vlaamse Rand are admitting increasing numbers of non-Dutch-speaking pupils. Indeed, more and more non-Dutch-speaking parents realise that knowledge of Dutch is a valuable advantage to their children. Classes with a lot of non-Dutch-speaking children receive extra support from the Flemish authorities and the Province of Flemish Brabant.

Reception classes.

In many cases, children who come to Flanders following an asylum or family reunification procedure or a house move do not know sufficient Dutch to enter ordinary education. That is why the Flemish authorities organise reception classes for them in primary and secondary education, where these non-Dutch-speaking newcomers receive intensive training for a year so as to prepare them to start ordinary education.

Extra teaching periods.

Moreover, the Flemish Community allocates extra teaching periods to Dutch-language primary schools throughout the Vlaamse Rand in order to improve language proficiency. Extra teachers help the children learn and use Dutch. The intention is to encourage the integration of non-Dutch-speaking pupils, to catch up on the lost ground in their knowledge of languages and to foster their language skills. In addition, the Flemish Community and the Province of Flemish Brabant give Dutch-language secondary schools tailored support for their language teaching. The teaching team is given intensive coaching so as to be able to teach language skills in the best possible way in their school.