The good news came after the budget conclave on the 2025 adjustment in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation: headteachers of schools with at least 140 pupils will now be fully relieved of their teaching duties so they can devote themselves full-time to their management role. Currently, this threshold is set at 180 pupils. In addition, the intermediate thresholds have also been lowered, allowing more headteachers to benefit from a reduced teaching load.
The headteacher of a school with fewer than 40 pupils (instead of the current 50) must teach 18 periods. When the number of pupils is 40 or more (instead of the current 50) and fewer than 80 (instead of the current 130), the headteacher must teach 12 periods. The headteacher of a school with 80 or more pupils (instead of the current 130) and fewer than 140 (instead of the current 180) must teach 6 periods. Finally, the headteacher of a school with 140 or more pupils (instead of the current 180) is not required to teach at all.
Lowering the thresholds will affect 342 of the 466 schools currently having a headteacher with a teaching load in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. Among these 342 headteachers, 196 additional ones will be fully exempted from teaching duties. As a reminder, there are about 1,940 headteachers in primary education. This means 18% of headteachers are positively affected. In addition, 85.5 FTE teachers (nursery or primary) will effectively be created, equivalent to a budget of €5.2 million.
Clarifications provided by Education Minister Valérie Glatigny in response to a parliamentary question raised in Committee by liberal MP Stéphanie Cortisse, who welcomed the news: "Many headteachers have told me about their difficulties in balancing their responsibilities as school leaders in pedagogical, organisational and administrative management, while also having a teaching load. I had raised this issue with the previous Minister Caroline Désir (PS), without result. I am pleased that the current Government has listened to this demand from the field. Headteachers are an essential pillar of our education system, and we must better support them. This reform is a first step: we are also working on administrative simplification, better consultation, and greater autonomy for headteachers so they can fully exercise their pedagogical and educational leadership."