Brussels, (Brussels Morning)- Minister of Education Ben Weyts feels strengthened by the advice of the Flemish Education Council (Vlor) in his conviction that now is not the time to reorganise the school year calendar. There are “other cats to flog” in education, he said in the Education Committee on Wednesday.
Last year, Weyts left the door ajar for a different division of the school year with a shorter summer vacation. He asked for advice from the educational field, the social partners and parents. He did this after the French-speaking Community decided this spring to shorten the summer vacation to seven weeks.
In its advice, the Vlor ruled two weeks ago that there is no general support among the educational partners to organise the school year differently. The Council therefore advises not to make a hasty decision and to look at what is happening in French-language education.
Because the Social-Economic Council of Flanders had also given similar advice, it does not seem the time for such a “revolution in education” for the minister, says BRUZZ. He also does not intend to organise any further consultations on this. “All points of view have been nicely mapped out in the advice. I am not going to do that work again,” says Weyts.
Pedagogical impact
He states that he still has questions about the pedagogical impact of a shortening of the summer holidays. There might be less learning loss. “The question is whether we can also realise learning gains for an entire school year in this way,” he wonders. Scientific advice should clarify this. Weyts also promises to monitor developments in French-language education.
Another argument put forward by proponents of the measure is that a short summer vacation is a way to tackle disadvantages. Children from underprivileged families are the victims of a long summer holiday. However, the minister emphasises that no additional social tasks should be shifted to education. “Our core task is to create the social mobility of children and young people by teaching them knowledge and skills,” explains Weyts.
