What builds tomorrow must unite us today. You care about your children's school. So do we. That's only natural: education is the major challenge of this century. Without education, there is no progress, no social cohesion, no personal fulfilment, no freedom. The school is the foundation on which any society that wants to move forward rests. Reforming is not disrespectful: it is essential. We want to improve the quality of education and support for our children. For our shared future.
The Government has also introduced a protection mechanism for temporary teachers: when zonal and central commissions make decisions, appointed teachers will not be able to reclaim hours held by temporary teachers. The objective is clear: to guarantee a status quo for the teachers concerned until the end of the 2026-2027 school year.
Classroom workload: 2 additional periods
The workload increase concerns 2 periods (from 20 to 22) and only in the upper secondary level.
Moreover, contrary to what some suggest: under this legislature, across all levels and functions, no other adjustment to the workload is planned as part of current and future reforms.
This measure was not chosen out of convenience. This choice was made precisely to avoid the harsher options suggested by experts:
- Increasing class sizes,
- Reducing student supervision,
- Reducing students' timetable,
- Ending support programmes,
- Cutting the salaries of all teachers.
These options, which would have involved reducing student supervision, including in special education, were explicitly ruled out to preserve what truly matters: the quality of education.
The Government has also introduced two significant reliefs:
- A reduction of 2 periods for new teachers to ease their entry into the profession;
- A reduction of 2 periods from age 60 to recognise experience, and the introduction of mentoring and support for younger colleagues.
The option that would have involved reducing student supervision, including in special education, was explicitly ruled out to preserve what truly matters: the quality of education.
As part of the future programme decree, a provision has also been included to protect temporary teachers who would be affected by the increase of 2 classroom periods in upper secondary education.
When the zonal and central commissions have to decide on the loss of hours of certain appointed teachers and, based on statutory rules, allocate hours held by “temporary” teachers, the latter will not be affected, since appointed teachers cannot reclaim hours held by “temporary” teachers. For hours without a classroom teaching load, appointed teachers will be made available to the organising authority and their schools.
In other words, the objective is to create a status quo for the teachers concerned until the end of the 2026-2027 school year.
No one claims the profession is limited to classroom teaching hours; we recognise the 5 components of the teaching profession:
- Work in the classroom,
- Work for the classroom,
- Service to the school,
- Ongoing training,
- Collaborative work.
That is precisely why the Government's reforms provide levers to support the implementation of the other components.
At the same time, the Government intends to reduce the administrative burdens and tasks that take teachers away from their core mission. A teacher's place is in front of their pupils, not behind forms.
Less bureaucracy. More knowledge transfer. Less paperwork. More time for pupils.
The aim, therefore, with the overall hours unchanged, is to allow teachers to devote more time to what really makes the difference in young people's success: teaching, guiding and passing on knowledge.
School supplies: extended, not reduced, free provision
Contrary to what is being hammered home in demonstrations and despite budgetary constraints (as a reminder: the Wallonia-Brussels Federation faces a structural annual deficit exceeding €1.5 billion) we have made sure to:
- Strengthen school funding through their operating resources,
- Extend free school supplies up to the sixth year of primary school,
- Preserve supervision levels,
- Secure lasting access to free meals.
School supplies, textbooks and teaching materials will therefore now be freely accessible to more pupils.
Regarding school meals, the Government has chosen to support schools while giving them the autonomy and flexibility needed to respond to the realities of their pupils and their area.
Far from undermining the principle of free schooling, the MR wants to reaffirm it by improving the practical arrangements for its application, in order to avoid wasting public money and inequity between schools.
In reality, the MR is strengthening free provision.
The end of the differentiated stream: no savings, more support
The end of the first stage of differentiated schooling (1st year of the differentiated stage in 2026-2027, then 2nd year in 2027-2028) was decided in 2017. Contrary to certain claims, this gradual phase-out generates no savings whatsoever, since, thanks to Minister Valérie GLATIGNY, every period is fully reinvested in enhanced support for pupils.
For the 2026-2027 school year, all the resources of the 1st year of the differentiated stage (+/- 10,000 teaching periods, i.e. 24.5 million euros) will therefore be reinvested in enhanced support for pupils.
The choice made is simple: we prefer to invest in pupils rather than in structures.
During the 2026-2027 school year, the transitional year for implementing enhanced support, periods will be allocated as follows:
- For schools that organised a differentiated 1st year in 2025-2026:
These schools will retain the supervision level calculated on the basis of the 15 January 2026 count in order to organise enhanced support.
- For schools that did not organise a differentiated 1st year in 2025-2026:
These schools will benefit from additional staffing as of 1 October 2026, based on a preferential coefficient per pupil.
This calculation will take into account actual enrolments at the start of the school year and will take retroactive effect from 24 August 2026, allowing schools to ensure the availability of teachers for the implementation of the scheme.
From the 2027-2028 school year, pupils who scored less than 50% on one or more parts of the common external certifying assessment awarding the basic education certificate, or who did not achieve at least 60% overall on that assessment, will receive enhanced support periods.
The first differentiated stream was based on a logic of separating pupils according to what they had learned by the end of primary school.
While it allowed for specific supervision, this model also produced well-documented effects: a concentration of difficulties in certain schools, forced orientation and, ultimately, a risk of reproducing educational inequalities. It should be recalled that this scheme did not produce the expected success rates on the external assessment leading to the CEB.
The choice made in this reform is a choice for a profound transformation of the model. It is about moving from a logic of separating pupils to a logic of supported integration.
The principle is that all pupils who have obtained the CEB certificate or who are directed towards the 1st year of secondary school are welcomed into the same first-year classes, regardless of their difficulties. This is not about denying these difficulties, but about not concentrating them in the same classes or the same schools. Pupils with gaps too significant to consider moving on to secondary school continue or consolidate their learning in the 6th year of primary school before joining the 1st year of secondary.
The CDI-E: an objective to tackle teacher shortages and stabilise teachers in the profession
Minister Valérie GLATIGNY has always stated that the end of tenured appointments would be part of a sustainable budgetary path for the Wallonia-Brussels Federation.
The Minister has also always stated that no reform could take place without equivalent guarantees for staff members, particularly regarding pensions.
The Minister's priority is to combat shortages and to stabilise teachers within the profession.
Every year, too many young teachers leave the profession after just a few years, sometimes due to insufficient prospects or inadequate professional stability. This situation weakens teaching teams and harms the continuity of pupils' learning.
The CDI-E project, under discussion with trade unions and organising authority federations, aims precisely to address these challenges.
Its ambition is to enable more teachers to build their careers in education and to provide greater stability for schools and pupils.
In concrete terms, the CDI-E would guarantee, among other things:
- Pay spread over 12 months;
- Greater job security;
- Better professional continuity;
- Portability of seniority between networks;
- Better alignment between schools' needs and teachers' aspirations.
To ensure a full workload, teachers could work in several schools within the same geographical area, including when these belong to different networks.
While the Wallonia-Brussels Federation is not the direct employer of teachers, it nevertheless funds their pay. It therefore seems logical for it to support the ability of young teachers to build their careers without being penalised by differences between education networks. Such an approach is also an important lever in the fight against shortages, allowing teachers to retain rights acquired throughout their career, regardless of the network in which they work.
The aim is not to weaken teachers. The aim is to retain them.
The aim is not to challenge acquired rights. The aim is to make the profession more attractive.
A quality school starts with a teacher present in front of every pupil.
Minister Glatigny has confirmed her wish for the reform to come into force as early as 2027.
Jobs: no redundancies, allocation preserved
The Government's aim is not to cut teaching jobs. Natural departures (retirement, end-of-career schemes, DPPR, etc.) absorb the adjustments without redundancies.
The reality today is not a surplus of teachers. It is a shortage.
As for the reform of the 7th years, it did not result in schools falling below the minimum thresholds for maintaining secondary school status: this was monitored beforehand by the FWB Administration and checked through the October standards review.
The allocation of jobs remains dependent on actual pupil enrolments, and the system cannot control these. Alternative pathways have been set up within Adult Education to ensure continuity of training for the pupils concerned. As a reminder, for pedagogical reasons, students who already hold a CESS and a CQ are encouraged to continue their specialisation within Adult Education or vocational training bodies rather than in compulsory secondary schools, since they already hold a CESS or a CESS and a CQ.
Consultation: an ongoing dialogue, with real room for manoeuvre
The Government has significantly increased consultations with trade unions, organising authority federations, Wallonie-Bruxelles Enseignement and parent association federations.
It is precisely at the request of institutional education stakeholders, including social partners, that several adjustments were made: a gradual phasing-in of free school supplies, stronger protection for temporary teachers facing workload reductions, a reduction of 2 periods at the start of a career and from age 60, and measures for small schools. In addition, the “CDI-E” project and the future reform of the 2nd and 3rd years of secondary school were consulted on in advance.
Consultation does not mean that every demand must be met or that unions in particular hold the pen. It means that demands are heard, studied and, where possible, incorporated.
School dropout and school buildings: priorities maintained
Contrary to certain claims, the fight against school dropout remains an absolute priority for the Government.
We have not abandoned the fight against school dropout.
The measures will indeed be implemented in primary education from September 2026, as planned in 2024.
For secondary education, the entry into force has been postponed to September 2027 to take into account the views of the FPOs and field stakeholders, who requested more time to properly train teams and streamline the scheme.
The FPO had in fact issued an unfavourable opinion on implementation as early as 2026. We chose to listen to them in order to guarantee a realistic and effective rollout on the ground.
The end of the first differentiated secondary stage is not a step backwards. On the contrary, it comes with a full reinvestment of resources into an enhanced support scheme for pupils experiencing learning difficulties at primary level.
Less separation. More support. Fewer labels. More assistance.
In addition, the Decree of 16 May 2024 on reducing school dropout and tackling absenteeism is one of the most ambitious reforms in recent years in terms of school engagement. Its implementation has been adapted at the request of those on the ground to ensure operational effectiveness: from the 2026-2027 school year in primary education and from 2027-2028 in secondary education.
The best way to tackle dropout in secondary school is to act earlier in the education journey.
At the same time, a number of schemes continue to be strengthened:
- The creation of the new Integrated School Support Service;
- The strengthening of the School Engagement Services (SAS);
- The extension of support for School Integration Units;
- The development of synchronous distance learning for pupils facing complex situations (school phobia, bullying, long-term illness, etc.);
- The strengthening of follow-up for young people cared for in IPPJs and CCMDs;
- Better coordination with the Regions in the fight against dropout and interrupted school paths;
- The strengthening of tools for monitoring school absenteeism.
School dropout cannot be tackled with a single measure. It requires mobilising the entire education system.
Regarding school buildings, investment programmes continue within the available budgetary resources. The FWB's budgetary context requires trade-offs, but investment in schools remains a priority.
Initial teacher training: a legacy of the PS
The reform of initial teacher training was decided under a previous legislature at the initiative of Minister Jean-Claude Marcourt (PS). Since then, Minister Valérie Glatigny has fortunately made several important adjustments to improve implementation, address concerns on the ground and ensure a gradual transition to the new training model. The current Government also remains particularly attentive to the evolution of enrolments in teacher training colleges. The challenge is also to encourage more young people to choose this profession and stay in it. That is why the Government is introducing several measures to make the profession more attractive: the CDI-E project, an upcoming communication campaign, recognition of relevant experience and valuing seniority from a previous career.
Training more teachers is essential. Retaining them is equally essential.