This week, we look into the causes of the problem and the steps that have been taken so far. Later in the month, we'll be interviewing Flemish education minister Pascal Smet, who also happens to be minister for equal opportunities, youth and Brussels affairs, all of which play into this complex issue.

Nearing a crisis
The current situation of a critical lack of space in Dutch-speaking schools stems largely from increased demand and a failure in the past to recognise the trend and increase supply. Much of the new demand has come from families where Dutch is not spoken at home. Putting children into a Dutch-speaking school gives them greater opportunities in the bilingual capital.

As the competition for school places became fiercer, the Flemish government in 2002 introduced a decree setting out admission criteria for primary schools. Priority was given to the siblings of pupils already at the school; 45% of remaining places were reserved for Dutch-speaking children; and children from disadvantaged groups were also given some priority.

Eventually the situation became especially difficult for first-born children. By the time the places for siblings were taken up, including siblings from families where no Dutch was spoken, there were few spots left for anyone else.

Parents of non-priority kids have to show up in person on a specific day to claim one of the few places left, and it's first-come, first-served. Those camped out in tents and sleeping bags are either parents with an oldest child entering school or those who have moved into the area.

Some of the former cases have in fact decided to vote with their feet and moved house to the Flemish areas around Brussels where they stood more chance of finding places, which diluted the presence of Dutch speakers in the capital even further.

Brussels as a whole is expecting some 200,000 new residents over the next 20 years, many of them immigrants. That will create the need for 15,000 new school places, which, according to the population division, means some 3,000 more places in Dutch-speaking schools.

Raising the quota
Education minister Pascal Smet recently adapted the decree to raise the quota for Dutch speakers to 55%, earning a legal complaint to the Constitutional Court. The complaint was brought by the French Community. Their schools in Brussels are also short of places, and an earlier request for Dutch-speaking schools to take more children from immigrant families fell on deaf ears.

Brussels minister Jean-Luc Vanraes, responsible for education within the Flemish Community Commission (which represents Flemish people living in Brussels), described the response as "taking a sledgehammer to crack a nut". He was joined by Vic Anciaux, Brussels chairman of the education cooperation platform. "This is a first," Anciaux said. "The Brussels system has been characterised in the past by cooperation between the Flemish and the French-speaking networks. It's not always been easy, granted. But this complaint will not simplify matters at all."

The aim of the equal opportunities portion of the 2002 decree was to create a mix of pupils and avoid homogenising areas with all immigrant children or all Flemish children. In practice, that's not working.

In one Brussels school, currently only 1% of the pupils are from a home where both parents are Dutch-speaking; about 10% are from bilingual Dutch-French homes; fully 80% are from homes where French is spoken, but where at least one parent is able to present a certificate of proficiency in Dutch, which allows them access to places reserved for Dutch-speaking children.

According to the school's director: "Some French-speaking parents have a certificate, but they don't speak the language well, and it's certainly not spoken at home," says the school's director. "These parents are welcome, but it's not right that they belong in the priority group."

What's best for the kids
According to a study carried out by researchers at the universities in Ghent, Leuven and Antwerp, the social mix of the school is less important than the economic background of the individual child. The group tested children from schools with a low concentration of immigrants, high concentrations and an even balance. The results were similar across the board, and children who did badly did so for the same reasons. "The support you get at home counts for more than the effect of the school," says sociologist Mieke Van Houtte of the University of Ghent.

The study from the Centre for Language and Education at the Catholic University of Leuven suggested giving children less or no homework - or at least making the homework less dependent on help from parents. Parents in some social groups have themselves not attained a high level of education, but many also don't speak a word of Dutch, making it impossible for them to help.

The bottom line
The solution to all of these problems would be to build more schools. In an interview published in De Standaard last week, Smet pointed out that it's not his job to build schools but to help finance plans made by others, like the municipalities and the Flemish Community Commission.

The first steps have been taken. Earlier this month, Vanraes submitted 17 dossiers to Smet's department for the construction, renovation and expansion of primary schools between now and 2015. The package included plans for new schools in Schaarbeek, Laken and Evere starting this year, as well as renovations and extensions elsewhere. A year later, it includes new schools in Anderlecht and Jette and further expansion projects in Ukkel and Brussels. And by September 2014, new schools in Molenbeek and Sint-Joost- ten-Noode.

Smet was reported as describing the dossiers as "vague" but promised that every project that met the selection criteria would be financed.

"If this government still cares about the position of Dutch in the capital, the only choice is to increase capacity," says Sven Gatz, former member of the Brussels parliament who now leads the liberals (Open VLD) in the Flemish Parliament. "Lack of investment will mean even more Flemish families fleeing the city because the shortage of places offers them only two alternatives: Find a school outside Brussels or go to a French-speaking school. At the same time, you give up on the mission to teach Dutch to children of other language backgrounds - still an important advantage in finding work in the capital. For years we Flemings complained that ‘they' didn't want to learn Dutch. Now large numbers of ‘them' are coming to our schools, and still we're not happy."

The case of Antwerp

The country's second-largest city is also facing a schools crisis

Antwerp, too, is suffering from a shortage of places at primary schools. At the end of the second registration period in March, 10,825 children had been signed up, 78% of them in one of the schools their parents selected.

Like in Brussels, children whose siblings already attend a school get to sign up to the same school in January; in March, Dutch- speaking and disadvantaged children get a place. The rest have to wait until the open registration period in May.

While there are in theory more than 2,000 places still open across the city, in some areas the pressure will be on. In terms of six-year- olds arriving at school for the first time, for instance, there are 666 children still awaiting places and only 481 places free. Many will have to take what they can get, regardless of their parents' selections.

In pre-schools, meanwhile, there is an apparent shortage of 265 places.

Also like Brussels, Antwerp is facing a demographic time-bomb: According to figures from the Flemish government's research service, the city will need 20 new primary schools by 2020 and 6,000 extra places in secondary schools by 2025, equivalent to about 60 schools.

According to Robert Voorhamme, the city's alderman for education, Antwerp needs investment of nearly half a billion euro over the next 10 years simply to keep its head above water. "If we want to guarantee a school place for every child in Antwerp, investment will have to be seriously increased," he said. "That half billion euro is only the absolute minimum the city system needs." (AH)