No More Handbags at Sint-Niklaas Da Vinci School as Students Must Carry Larger Bags

Students at Da Vinci School in Sint-Niklaas are being told to leave their small handbags at home and bring a bag large enough to hold an A4 folder.

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We are simply drawing extra attention to that rule. Yesterday, we did indeed already ask students to come to school with a different bag.

Principal Sandra Flamen said the requirement is not new, but the school is giving it extra attention at the start of the school year. Students who arrived with undersized bags had already been asked to return with a different one.

The school does not care what style of bag students use, Flamen said, as long as it can carry an A4 sheet or folder. Small handbags, she argued, do not allow students to store their materials properly, take them home or work and study comfortably.

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That really is not possible, because you cannot store your materials properly, take them home properly, or work and study with them properly.

In some study programs, the school has handed out A4 folders that students must bring to class each day. The measure is aimed especially at programs such as hairdressing, where students have many practical lessons and few textbooks. Students who continue to arrive with an unsuitable bag receive a warning and could be sent home under the school rules to get a larger one. Flamen said the school would first inform parents and keep repeating the message, hoping that would be enough.

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We inform the parents and keep repeating it. We hope that will be enough.