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🇧🇪 Belgium /Culture & Society

Three More Aalst Primary Schools to Get Family Liaison Workers

From VRT NWS · () Dutch

Translated from Dutch and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • Three additional primary schools in Aalst will start working with family liaison workers this school year.
  • The workers will help parents and schools communicate, address issues such as school costs, and connect families with other services.
  • The expansion builds on an initiative run by Mensen voor Mensen vzw at about 10 schools since 2020.

At three more primary schools in Aalst, a familiar face will be waiting at the school gate for parents who may not feel comfortable approaching a teacher or principal.

The family liaison workers, known as bridge figures, act as contacts for both schools and parents. They can answer questions about school costs, communication and parental involvement, while also directing families to other support services when needed.

Bridge figures have an important impact on equal opportunities for every child.

— Nele BuylBuyl described the role’s contribution to equal access to education.

Mensen voor Mensen vzw, which has used bridge figures in Aalst since 2020, says the role depends on informal and accessible contact. The workers remain visible at school and make time for conversations. They take multilingual families into account and work to ensure that parents and schools feel recognized in their respective roles.

We support parents and schools in building good cooperation and communication.

— Nele BuylShe explained how liaison workers help strengthen relationships between families and schools.

One parent said approaching the liaison worker felt easy because she stood at the school gate like other parents. That accessibility made it easier to raise a problem or admit that something was unclear.

Basisschool Atheneum at Graanmarkt is one of the new participating schools. It will introduce the worker on the first day through a welcoming school gate event on Sept. 1, where parents can receive a cookie and meet the school and liaison worker informally. Nele Buyl of Mensen voor Mensen said such early conversations can make it easier to discuss questions or problems later.

I just approach the bridge figure. She is very accessible and simply stands at the school gate, just like us.

— ParentA parent described why the liaison worker felt easier to approach than a teacher or principal.

The organization has worked for 25 years on the right of every child to education. It now places bridge figures in about 10 Aalst schools and also carries concerns raised by parents and schools to local and Flemish policymakers, seeking action on structural problems.

With the welcoming school gate, the school takes the step toward parents, lowering the threshold for them.

— Nele BuylBuyl explained the purpose of the first-day school gate event.
About this summary

Originally published by VRT NWS in Dutch. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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