“We took account of the number of speakers and the international importance [of the languages],” explained Smet’s spokesman. “In that case, you can’t ignore Chinese and Hindi.”

Critics point out that Turkish and Arabic are being ignored, however, although they are spoken at home by many of the students concerned. “Smet chooses the languages that students may and may not learn, and his choice seems to be very arbitrary,” said Elizabeth Meuleman, a member of the Flemish parliament for Groen!

Arabic and Turkish will still be offered in secondary schools, the education ministry said, but students will have to take those classes off-curriculum, adhering to a minimum class size of 20.