Lucerna schools combat statistics with quality education
Despite recent setbacks, the educational network is determined to offset negative stereotypes by focusing on a multicultural approach to education and steering clear of politics
Lessons on integration
The Lucerna primary and secondary schools – part of the Flemish education system – received much attention in local media at the start of this academic year, in the aftermath of the failed coup in Turkey. The country’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, accused the exiled opposition leader Fethullah Gülen of orchestrating the coup.
The president’s supporters in Belgium responded with hostile actions against the Lucerna schools, which many consider to be part of the Gülen movement. Across Flanders, parents of Turkish descent were put under pressure to remove their children from the schools.
A school bus was set on fire at the Lucerna secondary school in Houthalen-Helchteren in Limburg, and some of the network’s board members were victims of vandalism. The situation has since calmed down, but the government of Flanders was quick to back the schools, which are recognised and subsidised, and the police protected the buildings at the start of the school year.
Frustrating links
Yildirim, the director of the Lucerna secondary school in the Anderlecht municipality of Brussels, says it is frustrating to be linked to political events. “While the founders of Lucerna were inspired by Gülen’s ideas about encouraging secular education as a way of making progress, Gülen never had a defined pedagogical project,” he says. “We are not part of the Gülen movement, and it is a mistake to associate Turkey’s problems [with our schools].”
The Lucerna network of schools operate in five municipalities – Antwerp, Ghent, Anderlecht, Genk and Houthalen-Helchteren – and are attended by some 1,400 students. The first one opened in Anderlecht in 2003, with 19 students and eight part-time teachers.
The founders noticed that these youngsters generally performed worse than their peers, with many ending up in technical and professional tracks
The founders of Lucerna were mostly entrepreneurs and academics from the Turkish community, who took action to improve the educational quality among youth of Turkish origin.
“They noticed that these youngsters generally performed worse than their peers, with many ending up in technical and professional tracks and not in general education,” explains professor Ides Nicaise of the University of Leuven (KU Leuven), who taught a master’s programme on the Lucerna phenomenon and is a member of the school’s advisory board.
According to Nicaise, discrimination and prejudice are part of the reason why these students lag behind, but the current school system, he adds, is another major factor. In his research, he has identified two key mechanisms that put youngsters of foreign origin at a disadvantage.
Bridging the gap
“Because parents are free to send their children wherever they want, there is a lot of competition between schools to attract students from higher-income families,” he says. “These students are likely going to get better results, and thus improve their school’s reputation. This is detrimental for the social mix in other schools.”
The current school system, he continues, also requires students to make crucial study track choices immediately after primary education. But “youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds need more time to overcome language deficiencies and develop a clear vision of their study goals”.
According to a recent OECD study – known as the Pisa study – the performance gap between youngsters of foreign origin and other students in Flanders turned out to be the widest of all the countries and regions included in the study.
But the Lucerna schools are doing their bit to bridge that gap, says Yildirim, highlighting the positive evaluations by the government. Only a small minority of Lucerna students, he continues, don’t go on to higher education.
Diversity in focus
He also points to the various success stories, like that of the two students from the Lucerna secondary school in Antwerp who won a prestigious science competition organised by the Free University of Brussels (VUB). The students developed a physics test that was recently used for conducting experiments at the South Pole.
The statistics and success stories can be partly explained by the school’s choice to offer only the general education track and one technical study programme, in business. But the story becomes more interesting if you take into account the profile of Lucerna students.
We are part of the Flemish education system and want our student population to reflect the multicultural society in Flanders and in Brussels
According to Yildirim, the network’s student body is made up of some 40 nationalities. The majority of the students come from disadvantaged backgrounds, and a language deficit is a common problem.
While the Lucerna schools teach in accord with the guidelines set out by the Flemish education networks, they answer to specific needs of their student population by offering a variety of after-school guidance activities. The students are also encouraged to speak Dutch outside of class to improve their fluency.
Parents are also closely involved with the school, says Yildirim. Teachers regularly pay home visits, while parents are invited to follow Dutch lessons at the school and can receive guidance on how to help their children with homework, for example.
The schools also offer a broad range of extra-curricular activities in collaboration with external organisations, including sports and cultural activities like chess clubs and theatre projects. External organisations are involved in carrying out solidarity actions, like tackling poverty.
Global citizens
About one in three teachers are of foreign origin, providing a role model for the students. Alumni are also regularly involved in events.
The network aspires to turn its students into global citizens, says Yildirim. “They have to feel like part of the society, and they have to understand that they have a right to state their opinion.”
To achieve this, Lucerna has set up a course on civic education, in which students learn about the importance of democracy, tolerance, diversity and media literacy, among other areas.
The networks reputation is gradually improving, but the schools continue to find it challenging to convince more Flemish families. Prejudices like those concerning the “Muslim” profile of the schools persist.
"We are a free, non-denominational school network,” says Yildirim. That means students can opt for philosophical courses between lessons on Islam, Catholicism, Orthodoxy, Protestantism and ethics. Female students are free to wear a headscarf or not.
“We are part of the Flemish education system and want our student population to reflect the multicultural society in Flanders and in Brussels,” adds Yildirim. “Hopefully our quest for quality education can eventually eliminate all these prejudices.”
Photo courtesy Lucerna
