Despite a difficult budgetary context, the Wallonia-Brussels Federation Government has adopted, at first reading, the pay revaluation of leadership positions, in order to boost the appeal of these essential roles and better recognise everyone's responsibilities.
Revaluing school heads to recognise their responsibilities and highlight their role as pedagogical leaders
The Government has decided to revalue the pay scales of school heads in order to guarantee, at equal seniority, a minimum pay-scale gap of 25% between a head and a teacher.
This measure responds to a demand consistently raised, particularly by school heads and federations of organising bodies, for more than ten years. It still happened that in some primary schools a head earned less than a teacher.
This revaluation aims to better recognise:
- the constant increase in responsibilities taken on by school heads;
- the growing complexity of their duties, on a pedagogical, administrative and human level;
- the shortage in these key roles, particularly in primary education.
The reform also allows for significant administrative simplification, by harmonising the pay scales of primary school heads, while maintaining the more favourable existing situations in secondary education and the PMS centres. In practice, a majority of school heads will benefit from this revaluation, except those whose pay already largely exceeds the 25% gap.
This decision therefore aims to ensure recognition of the central role played by school heads in steering schools and in pupils' success.
“Investing in schools first means investing in those who bring them to life every day. Despite a demanding budgetary context, we chose to better recognise the responsibilities and dedication of school heads. This reflects our commitment to boosting the appeal of the profession”, concludes Valérie Glatigny, Minister of Education