Schools work to resolve shortage of space, as enrolment queues persist
A demographic boom has resulted in a stubborn shortage of spots in secondary schools across Flanders, which has led to the persistent problem of parents forming lines for days at school gates
Parent campouts
The vibe might seem friendly, but these campouts are a deadly serious affair, and these parents are on a mission: to get their child enrolled in the school of their choice.
Parent campouts have been a recurring phenomenon in cities like Brussels, Antwerp and Ghent for some time now. Recent measures aimed at putting a stop to this trend have largely succeeded in deterring parents from waiting overnight – or days – in front of a primary school to enrol their children. But the problem persists in secondary education.
Koogo, an organisation that defends the interests of parents of schoolchildren, says the problem in secondary schools has persevered for a number of reasons. “One is that schools are required to declare the number of students they wish to enrol,” explains Koogo co-ordinator Ludo Claes. “As a consequence, they’re not allowed to simply add extra chairs in a classroom to accommodate more students.”
A status symbol
Student body numbers are public and have historically encouraged parents to camp out to be first in line to enrol their children. Claes notes that school administrators in more and more municipalities have started introducing online registration systems, but adds: “This is often just a shift from physical waiting lines to virtual ones.”
Parents who pitch their tents in front of school gates often do so because that school is in high demand. “Sometimes this has to do with a school’s specific pedagogical method, such as with Montessori or Freinet schools.”
But there are also schools with a strong reputation in the community education networks, Claus explains, noting that this prestige is often a very subjective matter. “And it is a public secret that schools sometimes consider waiting lines a kind of status symbol.”
Groupthink
All too often, tents in front of local schools are the result of parent groupthink, Claes notes, with the emergence of a handful of tents inciting other parents to camp out. “It has come to a point where we see parents camping out who already know that they won’t be able to enrol their child, but they join the queue just to get a place on the waiting list – even if alternatives exist.”
Although the parent campouts may seem innocent enough, they are reinforcing existing socio-economic inequalities, Claes warns. “Not every parent has the same opportunities to pitch a tent for a few days,” he says. “It’s clear that middle-class parents with a wide network have more options than underprivileged families – both in terms of accessing information about the enrolment process and being able to physically camp out.”
Cities are trying to cope, but this is not an easy task to manage over a short period of time
Still, the campouts aren’t just a question of popularity and prestige. Local schools are facing a structural shortage of available places that is particularly pronounced in pre-school education and in primary schools in the larger cities.
“This was perfectly predictable on the basis of the number of children born in the cities, but policymakers waited too long to act,” Claes explains, noting that the capacity problem will shift to secondary schools as the children born in the recent demographic boom grow up.
“Cities are trying to cope, but this is not an easy task to manage over a short period of time,” Claes continues. “And of course, there is the question of who will foot the bill to create the extra capacity in our education system.”
Pre-school peak
Marijke Van Bogaert, a spokesperson for the Catholic education network, says that Flanders has a structural shortage of space in cities and certain towns, like Grimbergen, just outside of Brussels, due to a recent rise in the number of children being born in Flanders and Brussels. “Next year, we expect the peak to take place in pre-school education, while the peak in primary schools will occur in 2025,” she says, adding that secondary education is expected to be hit by the shortage in 2031.
Van Bogaert explains that anticipating a rising number of pupils isn’t as straightforward as it may seem. “For primary education, it’s not that complicated. These children will go to a school close to their homes, and only one type of education is offered,” she says. “But it’s different for secondary schools where students are more mobile and have to choose between fields of study. This makes it almost impossible to predict what kind of extra capacity will be needed where.”
Both municipal authorities and the three education networks are working to find solutions that will solve the structural shortage and eliminate the need for waiting lines. “Primary schools that have faced enrolment problems in particular have put their heads together to come up with better and fairer methods,” Van Bogaert says, noting that Antwerp, Ghent and Brussels have all introduced central registration systems.
“Equal opportunities in our education system are seriously jeopardised by the current situation,” Claes concludes. “For us, this is the main argument to work on a uniform enrolment system where everyone has the same chances.”
Photo: Parents waiting to enrol their children at Sint-Jan Berchmanscollege in Westmalle, Antwerp province
© Belga/Jonas Roosens
Educational system
million school-going children in 2013
million euros Flemish education budget for new school infrastructures in 2013
percent of boys leaving secondary school without a diploma
- Education in Flanders
- Secondary education reform
- European Encyclopaedia on National Education Systems
