One in eight primary schools has no PE teacher

The figures comes Het Nieuwsblad based on statistics that Flemish education minister Hilde Crevits provided to MP Steve Vandenberghe. Schools represented by the Flemish community education network GO! have the fewest PE teachers, with nearly 30% missing one. That number rises to 55% in West Flanders.

According to Eric De Boever, president of the Flemish Association for Physical Education, the situation has gotten much worse over the last five years.

In schools without a PE teacher, other teachers have to lead physical education themselves. “This affects the quality of the PE classes and creates more work for regular teachers,” said Vandenberghe, who wants the government to require schools to hire PE teachers.

Crevits said that a pedagogical diploma was enough to teach all primary school courses, including physical education. “Although not all teachers have equal skills in heading up different learning areas, such as music, French, PE and technical courses,” she said, “they have received a broad training that should enable them to provide the knowledge and skills necessary.”