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🇧🇪 Belgium /Culture & Society

French-speaking education in Belgium starts third round of cuts, impacting thousands of teachers

From VRT NWS · () Dutch

Translated from Dutch, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • French-speaking education in Belgium is set to implement a third round of austerity measures starting next week.
  • These cuts will affect an estimated 6,000 to 7,000 teachers, with the youngest and newest educators being the most vulnerable.
  • The measures include increasing teaching hours for some staff, leading to job losses and uncertainty for educators.

The French-speaking education sector in Belgium is bracing for a third wave of austerity measures, set to take effect next week, impacting thousands of teachers.

Jorre De Witte, a union secretary at the socialist education union CGSP Enseignement, stated that the cuts will affect between 6,000 and 7,000 teachers. "The youngest teachers are simply being let go," he said, predicting a challenging autumn ahead. Protests against these measures already occurred at the end of the last school year.

The youngest teachers are simply being let go.

— Jorre De WitteDescribing the impact of austerity measures on new educators.

As French-speaking students prepare to return to school, the austerity plan from Walloon Minister of Education Valérie Glatigny will begin to be felt. For instance, higher education teachers will now be required to teach 22 hours per week instead of 20. "If you make all secondary school teachers work 10 percent more, you need 10 percent fewer teachers," De Witte explained.

If you make all secondary school teachers work 10 percent more, you need 10 percent fewer teachers.

— Jorre De WitteExplaining the logic behind the increased workload and resulting job cuts.

While tenured teachers may be reassigned to other schools, newer educators face job insecurity. Julie, a young teacher of Dutch and English at Institut Saint-Charles, shared her distress. "I knew the austerity measures would impact my working hours at school, but I didn't expect to lose all my hours," she told RTBF. She is now updating her resume instead of preparing lessons.

School principals have had to make difficult calls, with one director having to inform 16 teachers that they would lose hours, some losing their entire workload. The union estimates that approximately 1,300 jobs will be completely cut, affecting a much larger number of teachers when considering those who lose partial hours. This situation exacerbates existing discontent in French-speaking education, which experienced significant unrest last school year.

I knew the austerity measures would impact my working hours at school, but I didn't expect to lose all my hours.

— JulieA young teacher expressing her shock at losing her job hours due to the cuts.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by VRT NWS in Dutch. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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