Toutes les informations traduites en anglais ci-dessous peuvent être trouvées en langue française sur le site de la Communauté française de Belgique à l’adresse suivante.
http://www.enseignement.be
(Le texte ci-dessous reprenant les point essentiels du système éducatif en Communauté française de Belgique, sera traduit en français prochainement)

COMPLETE NATIONAL OVERVIEW

Legal System

The decree of the 24 July 1997 concerns compulsory education in both mainstream and special schools. It defines the main aims of the elementary and secondary school and organises the structures to achieve them.  For present and future teachers and also for the pupils and their parents, these aims are available to read in all schools, the psycho-medical-social service and public libraries. To some extent the decree of the 3rd March 2004 organised special education.

The general aims
The French community of Belgium pursues simultaneously and without hierarchy the following aims:
- promote self confidence and personal development in each pupil
- give all pupils the appropriate knowledge and help, enabling them to acquire competences that will give them the ability to continue learning and to take an active part in the economical, social and cultural life surrounding them
- prepare all pupils to be responsible citizens, able to contribute to the development of a democratic, interdependent, pluralist and open international society
- ensure that all pupils receive the same chance of social emancipation.

The particular aims
Pre-school education pursues all of the general aims and aims in particular:
- to increase the awareness of the pupil regarding their own potentialities and assisting the pupil to be able to express themselves  through creative activities
- to increase socialisation
- to increase cognitive, social, emotional and psycho motor functional knowledge
- to detect difficulties or disabilities and to ensure the necessary assistance.

Primary education pursues all of the general aims and aims in particular:
- to give priority to reading, the use of senses (as apposed to technology), writing and lessons in communication
- to overcome the basic tools of mathematics allowing the solution of problem situations
- to encourage the pupil to achieve the general aims of compulsory education in all educational activities.

Financing
(further information will follow)

Identification of Special Educational Needs

(further information will also follow)

Each school allows each pupil to progress at his/her own rhythm using the formative assessment and the differentiated pedagogic.
- In mainstream education a pupil who has to do the second step of compulsory education in five years instead of four, can do this complementary year adapted to his/her needs in the same school. The school organises this five year period in the second step of compulsory education in such a way that this extra year will never be a year of repetition.
- In special education a pupil progresses with learning at their own pace, taking their level of maturity into consideration, and in agreement with the class council.

The basic competences have been created by the government who will propose them for approval in the Parliament. Works groups, where experts are permitted to participate, have been created to elaborate the basic competences which were devised by the inspectors and representatives of elementary and secondary education.

The basic competences prioritise not only reading, writing, oral communication and maths, but also the development of all sensory abilities. It defines communicative competences in other languages than French which are taken at the end of the first degree. The other educational activities aim also towards the general aims of compulsory education which are in the following fields and in common compulsory training: psycho-motor function and physical education, studies in history and geography, art, technology, science, environmental studies, media, social abilities and social studies.

The curriculum commission examine whether or not the study programme can be used in connection with the basic competences and special education and if it allows pupils with special educational needs to progress in an optimal way. The commission does not study the pedagogical methods.
 
A commission for the assessment tools has been created in relation to the basic competences according to the method decided on by the government. This commission develops tests for standardised assessment.

The project of educational establishment defines the set of pedagogical choices and particular concrete activities that the teaching team of the school employ for use in collaboration with all partners and to realise the educational and pedagogical plan of the government.
It is defined according to:
- Which school the children apply for, their cultural and social characteristics, special education needs and their ability to learn.
- The ambitions pupils and parents have regarding the pursuit of studies and vocational ambitions.
- The natural environment of the district, the city or the village, where the school is located.

In the case of a mainstream school the ‘project of educational establishment’ decides the pedagogical choices and actions required in promoting the inclusion of pupils from special schools.

Each school must have a protocol that describes which tools are implemented in order for the pupils to reach the general and the particular aims of the decree regarding basic competences.

In the elementary school the ‘project of educational establishment’ advises on how to promote communication between pupils, parents and members of the school team.

Each school must revise the project every three years in co-operation with the participation council.

The participation council is created in every school to:
- discuss the project of the school
- complete it
- to propose the project in agreement with the Minister
- to regularly assess the application
- to propose adaptation
- to give an opinion about the activities report
- to reflect on requests for funding during the school year, especially those concerning cultural and sport activities stated in the project
- to analyse and propose a system of solidarity between pupils to pay costs.

The participation council is composed of social, cultural and economical representatives, members of the school team elected by the team, parents, and members of the workers and administrative staff of the school.

The report of activities: must be handed in each year. It is written by the headteacher of the school and submitted to the participation council.

The report of activities review:
- the actions taken to reach the general aims in the framework of the pedagogical project of the Government
- the pedagogical innovations
- the support provided for pupils with difficulties
- the success rate and the repeat year rate
- the continual training of teachers
- the exchanges organised with external partners, especially in the field of artistic and cultural activities
- the initiatives taken concerning cultural experiences, social studies, media, health and environmental education
- the initiatives taken to promote sports activities , especially in collaboration with the sports associations located in the area
- the actions taken to promote the orientation of the pupils
- the initiatives taken to promote inclusion into mainstream schools for pupils from special schools
- the recourse against decisions taken by the class council and the results of the procedure
- the number of rejections regarding registration and the reasons why
- the actions taken to organise the 3 years of the first degree of secondary education
- working at home in the second step of the pedagogical continuum
-  reflections on informing the control commission about adapting the set of actions
The model of the report of activities is decided by the Government.

Registration: Before the registration of a pupil the principal gives the parents or guardian:
- the educational and pedagogical project of the Government
- the project of the school
- the regulations for studying
- the internal regulations of the school including disciplinary measures and the possible procedures regarding these measures
Registration at the school means the acceptance of the above.

The regulations for studying: For each level of education the Government has created the general regulations for studying.
It defines:
- the criterion for the quality of the school work.
- the procedure for assessment, decisions of the class council and the further communication of these decisions.

The quality of the school work required is described in as much detail as possible so that the tasks asked of the pupil are within the framework of the general and particular aim of the decree.

For that the regulations of the studies include, according to the level of education concerned, the following points:
- individual work
- group work
- research 
- group lessons
- homework
- time for formal assessment

The following are requirements:
- a sense of responsibility which will be visible by, expression, initiatives, careful work and paying attention
- the progressive acquisition of a personal and efficient method of work
- the ability to teamwork in order to achieve a task
- respect the rules
- taking care with presentation of work
- respecting deadlines

Homework: It is possible to work at home for each level of education except the first step of the pedagogical continuum.
During the first step of elementary school, working at home is not considered appropiate as activities such as reading, writing and oral presentations need to be done at school.

The work at home must be adapted to the applicable level of education and must always be done without the help of an adult. If the pupil needs information the school assures access to public libraries or information technology tools from the school which are freely available.
During the second step of the pedagogical continuum,
- homework is considered as a result of the achievements already realised during school time
- the work content is individualised taking into consideration the current level and pace of the pupil.
- homework is limited to 20 minutes a day in the first cycle of the second step and 30 minutes a day during the second cycle of this same second step.
- the assessment of homework is exclusively formative and never summative (or grading based)
- the pupil is given reasonable deadlines so as to help him/her in organising his/her schedule.

The decisions of the class council
The decision to graduate from one class, cycle or phase to another and the presentation of diplomas, certifications or attestations of success at school is the responsibility of the class council. The head teacher presides over the graduation and all the members of the teaching team who work with the pupils are present. Representatives from the psycho and medical social services assist the graduation as consultants.
In special education, when the class council confirms that the competences achieved are the same as those set by the decree, the certificate of basic studies is awarded to the pupil in the same way as in a mainstream school.

If pupils fail or receive poor results, parents can ask the head teacher to clarify this and both parents and pupils have the possibility of consulting the teacher responsible for the assessment. Test results are confidential.

An interne procedure has been created to deal with protests concerning the decisions made and to promote reconciliation regarding eventual disagreements. This procedure must be finished by 30th June and final results available by 5th September.

An appeal council has been created by the Government with the inspector and the members delegated by the Minister. The decisions are taken with a majority of 2/3. The members are in office for two years and are allowed to stand again; this is voluntary, only costs regarding travel and residence are covered. If the appeal concerns a pupil from special education, two members from the general council of concertation for special education assist the meeting.
Parents have 10 days to appeal if their child fails the test. The appeal must be justified and contain the information necessary to enlighten the Council. It cannot include details concerning another pupil.

The decisions of the appeal council are based on the achievements already acquired by the pupil and the accomplishments expected to be acquired, taking into consideration the level of the general assessment applied when evaluating the pupil.

If competences are not defined or the test for assessment is not created, the appeal council can make a decision based on the curriculum.

The complementary year
The new unit of school time is no longer one year, but one step. The basic competences have to be achieved by the end of a step and it is only at the end of a step that assessment is made.

What happens if a pupil does not achieve the basic competences?
Before the new decree the pupil would repeat the same year, but this was not efficient and created a feeling of failure. Therefore it was decided to create a complementary year with an individual programme based on the failures and successes of the pupil.

The certificate of basic studies is discerned by:
- the primary or secondary school body of education in mainstream or special education
- the examining body organised each year by the school district for pupils registered in the sixth year of primary school or each 11 year old pupil (with their date of birth being no later than 31st  December)
- the examining body created for people who have left compulsory education and who do not have the certificate of basic studies.
The model of this certificate is created by the Government.

Special Needs Education within the Education System

(further information will also follow)

Special education
In elementary special education, the pre-school and primary structure is a pedagogical continuum. Primary special education is structured in four degrees called degree of maturity. (The number of years per degree is variable according to the level of maturity of the pupils in the school.)

Pre-school special education welcomes pupils from 2 to a maximum of 7 years old.
Primary special education welcomes pupils from 6 to a maximum of 14 years old.

Special education welcomes children and adolescents who, on the basis of a multidisciplinary examination, receive an adapted education based on their needs and pedagogical possibilities. The multidisciplinary examination is made by a psycho-medical-social centre or other authorised institution and includes medical, psychological, pedagogic examinations and social studies. The registration is made in agreement with the parents and following this the parents receive an attestation suggesting a suitable school with the level adapted to the pupil. The parents can then decide if they wish to follow this attestation or not. If the parents decide not to follow the attestation, the pupil stays in mainstream education without special support. This attestation is absolutely necessary when applying for entry into a special school. Special schools only give support to the mainstream schools regarding inclusion.

Special education is organised on the basis and the importance of the educational needs and the pedagogical possibilities of the pupils and to guarantee the development of their intellectual, psycho-motor functions, emotional and social abilities in order to ensure:
- integration into a social environment or in an adapted work structure
- professional possibilities in spite of their disabilities and to make integration possible in their everyday environment and working life.
- The pursuit of studies through to the end of the secondary superior level, offering at the same time the possibility of leading an active life.

The special education authorities organise the co-ordination between education and ortho-pedagogical, medical, paramedical, psychological and social interventions. It continually collaborates with the service in charge of the guidance of the pupils.

Special education is organised into 8 types. Each type is adapted to the general and particular needs of the pupils who attend special schools and who have the same types of disabilities and therefore share common needs. For pupils with multiple disabilities, the type of special education offered is defined according to their educational needs and adjusted to the age and the possibilities of each pupil.

Type 1 of special education is adapted to the special needs of children and adolescents with mild mental disabilities
Type 2 of special education is adapted to the special needs of children and adolescents with moderate or severe mental disabilities
Type 3 of special education is adapted to the special needs of children and adolescents with severe behaviour and personality problems.
Type 4 of special education is adapted to the special needs of children and adolescents with physical problems
Type 5 of special education is adapted to the special needs of children and adolescents with an illness or who are convalescent (classroom in clinic)
Type 6 of special education is adapted to the special needs of children and adolescents with a visual impairment
Type 7 of special education is adapted to the special needs of children and adolescents with an auditory impairment
Type 8 of special education is adapted to the special needs of children and adolescents with an instrumental impairment

Development of Integration/Inclusion

Full time permanent inclusion
In the new decree of the 3rd Marts 2004 organising special education, there is a chapter concerning inclusion. To promote social adjustment and the education of pupils with special needs, temporary or permanent inclusion in a mainstream school for a pupil registered in special education can be organised.

Full time permanent inclusion concerns pupils of the special elementary school in the types 4, 6 and 7. The Government may allow derogation on the basis of an opinion from the general council of concertation of special education.

Full time permanent inclusion means that the pupil follows mainstream school education with support from the special school according to his needs and with free travel between his home and the mainstream school. A pupil registered in the mainstream school and the special school receive 4 periods of support. The pupil must register at the special school on the 15th January, in the same school year as when they plan to start. When a pupil begins at a mainstream school they lose their registration at the school for special education and the costs of subvention are transferred to the mainstream school.
The decision for full time permanent inclusion must be suggested by the:
- class council
- guidance service
- parents
- teaching team, in agreement with the participation council. The ‘project of educational establishment’ must contain elements which enable the organisation of inclusion.
 
When the school has reached an agreement with the parents and the pupil the head teacher of the special school finds a mainstream school willing to collaborate regarding inclusion.
Following this a plan is framed by the class council of the special education, the guidance service and the class teacher of the mainstream school.
The protocol is in writing and includes:
- the plan for inclusion and the file of the pupil, the aims, the specific equipment needed, travel requirements,  exemption from the mainstream programme if necessary and the method of communication between the 2 schools
- defining the co-operation between the support team of the special school and the teachers of the mainstream school and also defining how to organise the internal assessment of the full time permanent inclusion.
- the agreement of the guidance service
- the agreement of the parents
- the opinion of the travel commission.

This protocol must be forwarded to the administration and to the inspection service by 30th April at the latest. The commission for integration and the government make their decisions by June at the latest although in exceptional circumstances the protocol can wait until 15th September giving the government until the 30th September to make a decision.

To continue in mainstream education a positive decision from the teaching team is required thus allowing integration to continue without further process. If one of the persons involved in the protocol propose a termination of the integration and subsequently propose the return of the pupil to special education, the decision can be revoked on the basis of a meeting with all the parties of the protocol and the head teachers of the schools. In exceptionally serious cases the Government may, after careful consideration, end a process of integration during the school year.

The task of permanent assessment concerning the integrative actions is assured by the general council of concertation for special education on the basis of the reports written by the teaching team. The attestation and certificates are awarded by the mainstream school.

Partial permanent inclusion and temporary inclusion
Partial permanent inclusion means than the pupil follows certain lessons in the mainstream school and the remaining lessons in the special school for the whole of the school year. The pupil continues to receive free travel between his home and the special school.

Temporary inclusion means than the pupil follows part or all of the lessons in the mainstream school during a certain period of the school year. The pupil continues to receive free travel between his home and the special school.

Only pupils who have attended special education for a minimum of 3 months may use this method of inclusion. The pupil stays registered in the special school.

The special class in the mainstream school is not considered as inclusive if the specialist teacher of the class is there during all lessons.

Innovations and challenges:

School for success
The innovation with the Decree of 24th July 1997 is that it is common for education to be on all levels in both mainstream and special education schools, this can be particularly helpful regarding inclusion. The Decree of 3rd March 2004 organising special education was introduced to adapt special education and not change it.
 
This Decree created the idea of the school for success. It is a school which does not exclude but promotes inclusion; it wishes to be equitable and ambitious. Equitable, as the school aims for each pupil to be successful. Ambitious, as for pupils to achieve success, complex and various competences are required. Before the decrees the special school was called special and integrated education, now it is just called special education. The progress is that all education, mainstream or special, is considered as inclusive.

The principal pedagogic axes are the continuum of learning, the differentiated pedagogic, the formative assessment, the pedagogic team, the group of pupils, the organisation of the teacher’s work, and the complementary year.

In practice, two difficulties need to be overcome concerning the complementary year, the organisation of this year and the earlier belief that the repeated year is efficient. It is nevertheless possible to organise the year effectively provided the following is taken into consideration:
- The multi-age or vertical class presents advantages for the pupils. It allows them to stay in the same reference group, to work on the level best adapted to them and work with other groups in the class. The merging of the schedule between the different classes of one cycle makes it possible to create the complementary year, where pupils are allowed to move between the different levels of classes according to their needs. The teacher must be able to work naturally within differentiated pedagogy and has to find the time to work with the team, preparing assessment, analysing results and detecting difficulties.
- the class where the teacher stays with the pupils allowing the pedagogical continuum but encourages less work in the team.
- the class with de-comparmentalisation where the basis group move according to their learning needs. It is a way of practicing differentiated pedagogy and developing the individual learning plan. This form of organisation is especially good with the integration of migrant pupils.
- the class with specialist teachers. The pupils in this class are on the same cycle or step and need to achieve the same level of competences. This is achieved by more than one teacher being in the classroom teaching different subjects, this is also called flexibility of the tenure. Sharing competences may be done by discipline or area, meaning that a teacher becomes an expert in one discipline and teaches this in all the groups. It encourages team work and exhibits the diversity of the teacher in teaching competences.
- the traditional class where pupils of a similar age have a different teacher each year. This does of course not mean that the pedagogical continuum and the other points are not respected but in this case there is more contact required within the team work.

Sometimes the same school will rearrange the education offered, but still within the five possibilities mentioned above.

All parents would like a guarantee regarding the future of their child and know that this future is under construction in school, therefore all eyes are watching and analysing the school meaning that new innovations can make the parents anxious and can sometimes hinder their children in learning. The multi-age classroom and the time allowed for principal learning can lead to questions from the parents, more often impatient to see rapid results so therefore communication with the parents is extremely important. Continual training is necessary for teachers within the school cycle to help keep them aware.

Positive discrimination
The decree of 1998 modified in 2002 aims to assure all pupils equality and social emancipation by positive discrimination. The aim is:
- to group the disseminated funding given to schools who welcome pupils from a disadvantaged environment
- to improve the use of this funding and revise it each year
- to establish a list of schools in areas with: a poor environment, unemployment and a migrant population and make it a priority zone)
- to prevent school drop outs and violence
- to co-ordinate the actions of the different partners

The school of positive discrimination is a school where extra funds are allocated on the basis of social, economical, cultural and pedagogical criterion.

In elementary education, 12.5% of the pupils are recognised as being of ‘positive discrimination’ covering 395 school units.

Two kinds of supplementary means are possible:
- extra human resources i.e.: teachers, nurses, social, paramedical or psychological employees
- extra functional funding i.e.: specific training, support from external services, renovation of the school building, contract with cultural, sport and educational centres, organising meetings,  purchase of new materials, facilities for libraries, newspapers, books and a travel budget to enable diverse  activities.

The global budget for the elementary school was 8.924 millions euros in 1999, 11.805 millions euros from 2002. 70% of the budget is used on human resource funding and 30% on functional funding.

Plan for individual learning
This is a methodological tool elaborated and adjusted by the class council for each pupil and during the whole of their education on the basis of observations made by different members and data from the guidance service. It lists the particular aims to be reached during a certain period, and it is with the data of the plan for individual learning (PIA) that each member of the pluri-disciplinary team organise the educational work and training in collaboration with the pupil and the parents. The plan for individual learning is the base of a lifelong project for the pupil.

The plan for individual learning must:
- be in writing
- be given to everyone involved
- be elaborated with the collaboration of the pupil and the parents
- be regularly adjusted
- contain the aims correctly formulated
- contain aims adapted to the chronological age
- be balanced : composed of aims in the different fields
- promote functional activities to realise the aims
- promote general activities (when pupil acquires a competence, enable him/her to use it in other circumstances or other environments)
- specify the responsibilities of each of the involved parties.
- review the assessment modalities
- review the adaptation of the means, materials, access and so on

Contract for the school

Between January and May 2005, the minister organised meetings with direct contact between the minister and teachers. 30.000 persons participated in 200 meetings. Out of this large inquiry, the contract for the school was born and has been applied since September 2005. The contract outlines 10 priorities for the school.

The four main problems in our education
- Too many pupils are not reaching the basic competences of reading, writing and maths.
- Too many pupils never graduate and the percent of failure and repeat year is too high
- The elitism of certain schools label other schools, good or bad, and cause segregation
- Too many pupils are in schools or other options that they did not choose, as they had no project or because they met with difficulties and became de-motivated.

The agreed aims:
It is necessary to strive to achieve a better level of requirements, increase the number of graduates, reduce the school failure and promote the social co-education.
The ten priorities:
1) more teachers
-    increase the pre-school education framework
  -    reinforce the framework in the 2 first classes of primary school
-    reinforce the framework in little school
-    create an organic framework for nurses
 
2) ensuring that each pupil acquires the basic competences
- assure improved transition between primary level and secondary level
- reinforce the common scale of 28 periods of lessons in all schools
- define the function and the organisation of the optional activities
- increase remediation (to prevent pupils dropping out of school)
- assess the opportunity to organise a common test at the end of the common studies
 
3) efficiently guide each pupil
- confirm the psych-medical- social centres in their essential mission
- provide vocational information during the first year of the secondary level
- train members or the psycho-medical-social centres to advise and to inform
- ensure that teachers receive training in the various forms of guidance
- ensure a harmonious transition from one study level to another
- develop a common service of information and course of study

4) choose and learn an occupation at school
- develop a coherent policy concerning the investment of equipment
- increase and systemise technical and professional education in order to organise work placement in the third degree
- promote a positive approach to occupation
- register the training given partly in an educational institution and partly in a work place relevant to the qualifications required
- organise the qualifying education in units

 5) improve teacher training
- improve the initial training of teachers
- revise the requirements for the pedagogical abilities certificate
- increase specific training for the trainer and for the teacher
- inform on the continual training, aim and priorities in the contract for the school

 6) give pupils and teachers the tools to aquire knowledge
- create a school library
- approach the control commission concerning school books
- disseminate the pedagogic tools to the teachers

 7) increase the value of the teachers
- create the same status to the title as to the function
- update their status
- close down de Bond’t commission

 8) permanent control of schools
- reinforce the role and the means of the control commission
- reform the inspection service
- reinforce external assessment
- implement a common test link with the basic study graduate
- increase the value of school’s principles
- reinforce the administration of compulsory education

 9) ‘no’ to the school ghetto
- take care of pupils who move schools due to exclusion
- control registration refusals
- limit the possibility of  moving to another school during a cycle or a degree
- insist on rapid inter-university analysis regarding socially mixed groups

10) reinforce the communication between school and family
- implement a project to reinforce the link between family and school encourage parents to participate in their child’s school life
give the parent’s association a decretal framework
 

Teacher Training
(more information will follow)

Quality Indicators for Special Needs Education
(more information will follow)

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