School groupings will begin to take shape in 2017. Each group will be made up of several schools, with a total student body of at least 2,000 and an average of 6,000. The creation of co-operative groups will not be obligatory, but Flemish education minister Pascal Smet held out the possibility of offering financial incentives to move to a group system. Management staff might be eligible for more pay if they work at a group level, while teachers would move towards being employed by a group rather than a single school.

One problem continues to be the question of teachers who enter the profession from a career elsewhere. The government is keen to encourage the diversity such “side-door” entrants can offer, while teachers’ unions are concerned at the effect on the profession. The agreement announced last week by Smet contains a discussion note on this issue which, he said, was still open to amendment.

The agreement will now be translated into the formal text of a decree, which will then form the basis of talks with the school networks in Flanders.