Over-25s get chance to take secondary school courses

It was thought that there were sufficient alternatives for over-25s to turn to, such as adult education and the Exams Commission – a department of the Flemish government that has the power to administer diplomas to anyone who completes a course of study and passes its exams.

However, certain disciplines that prepare students directly for the labour market are only provided in full-time secondary education. These tend to be very specialised courses that train students to become an optician or dental technician, for example. There are almost no alternatives outside of secondary school education.

The government of Flanders, therefore, wants to introduce the possibility of waiving the age limit of 25 in certain cases, which are still to be defined. Schools would have the freedom to decide whether or not they implement the measure.

The change will not result in a situation where adults can just register at any secondary school that provides such specialised courses. But it also means that acceptance would not be decided on a case-by-case basis but would depend on the school management’s policy.

The measure was included in the proposal for the education decree XXV, the annual collective decree with planned modifications to the education legislation, which Crevits recently submitted to the Flemish Parliament.

Photo: Ingimage