Plans for the reform of arts education in Flanders have been on the table since 2003, when the Court of Auditors pointed out a number of shortcomings in the system. In March, the education ministry of Pascal Smet issued a document for discussion, laying out the broad lines of potential reform. The results of discussions are expected later in the year, while a new decree governing the system would, it is hoped, have completed its legislative process by 2013.

“Part-time arts education has a double social mission,” Smet states in his 2009 policy paper on education: “the organisation of artistic education both at an amateur level and in preparation for higher education and the promotion of arts and cultural education in pre-school and primary and secondary schools.” The paper continues: “As many children, young people and adults as possible need to be given the chance to take advantage of what's on offer in order to develop their artistic talents. Artists have always been the pioneers of our society, showing us the way forward.” Those two aims are again picked up in the new discussion document on arts education.

The broad lines of future policy on part-time cultural education have been released to the people it will affect: the teachers who will carry it out, as well as the trainers of those teachers. And whereas the headlines concentrate on the idea to scrap the one-year course in sight-reading now required before children can pick up a musical instrument, the plan itself is far more ambitious. The response of the sector has been one of interest but with a heavy dose of uncertainty.

One of the more controversial ideas concerns the blurring of the four disciplines which currently make up arts education: music, visual art, dance and what is called “word” – basically speech performance, including elocution, theatre and recitation. Not all academies currently provide classes in all four disciplines, but Smet's plan would involve more cross-over tuition, like music theatre or theatrical design.

One of the main problems with this approach, however welcome cross-over tuition may be, is the demand it places on teachers. “Who will decide who teaches what and at what level?” wonders Maggy De Ridder, who teaches music at the academy in Grimbergen, which also offers word and dance. “What are the consequences for rosters and pay and the like? Is there material available for crossover teaching?” She says that there are still many questions that have remained unanswered. “What I see is a framework, and I'm looking for more details. It's all tremendously exciting, but I wonder how we're supposed to realise all of this. It's going to take a number of supermen to make it all happen on time.”

Johan Jonniaux, director of the academy for music and woord in Oud Heverlee, near Leuven, says that they’re going to need to concentrate on the teacher’s ability, “because until then, every step is a step too far. We're jumping into an abyss here. There’s a lot of competence out there, but we're not ready yet for such major changes.”

The Royal Conservatory in Brussels will be profoundly affected by the changes proposed because that is where the schools’ and academies’ music teachers are trained. Director Peter Swinnen joins in with the chorus of doubt over the means of achieving Smet's ambitious aims. “Teachers are being certified today for a system that is in the process of changing,” he says. “We need time to educate the staff who are going to have to implement the system.”

The insertion of arts education into the school curriculum involves logistics of connecting an entire school population with the local arts academy so that classes can take place during school hours. Almost 20% of Flemish municipalities don't have any form of arts academy, and in those who do, not all disciplines are currently represented. Only six of the 168 academies in Brussels and Flanders offer all four. As one director commented at a recent information session on the policy proposals, “I've read the document, and I’ve come to the conclusion that I'm going to need two extra floors built onto my academy”.

One part of the plan that struck a chord with the media was to scrap the onerous requirement for children to spend a whole year learning to read music notes before ever being allowed to pick up an instrument. Reactions were divided between those who find the theory of sight-reading to inhibit creativity, and those who are thankful for having learned to read music when they were young.

“Learning to read notes before you play an instrument is difficult and much too abstract,” says Johan Lommelen, who teaches violin at the academy in Wemmel. “It's more fun for children to play a string and discover the notes through the instrument.”

Ingrid Leys, an official in the education ministry, says that the reality is slightly more nuanced than media have reported. “The precise curriculum still has to be determined, but the requirements of conservatories – practical skill, the ability to read notes and a knowledge of music history – will remain the guiding principle.”