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Belgium covers a small geographic area of 32,547 square kilometers and has a population slightly greater than 10 million (10,239,085 in the year 2000). The country is often described as being situated at the "center" of Europe, since the exact geographic center of the 15 member countries of the European Union is located in the Belgian province of Namur and the political seat of the E…
Education in Belgium is regulated by the first Constitution of 1831, by the constitutional reform establishing cultural and linguistic communities (completed in 1993), and by several school laws. Article 17 of the Constitution of 1831 set "freedom of education," prohibiting efforts to hinder said freedom, and that the state would legislate publicly funded education. Article 17 has be…
Of the total population of 10.2 million, 2.4 million are 19 years or younger, roughly evenly divided by sex. The school population was 2,254,000 in the year 2000, with 399,000 children enrolled in preschool, 778,000 in primary school, 779,000 in secondary school, and 298,000 in higher education, of whom 128,000 were in universities and 170,000 in non-university institutions. The rapid aging of the…
Preprimary or preschool education (Enseignement préscolaire/Voorschool onderwijs) is separate and not compulsory and is provided free of charge at three levels, covering the age groups of two and a half to four years old, four to five years old, and five to six years old. Parents may have to provide assistance in the form of meals, transportation, and activities outside the classroom. More …
Secondary education in Belgium covers a six-year period, divided in three cycles of two years each, named the observation, orientation, and determination cycles. While a number of subjects are compulsory, students must make curricular choices beginning in the first year of study, ultimately leading to a variety of specializations that generally combine two lines of study. Compulsory subjects for s…
Tertiary or higher education is offered in universities, settings in which teaching and research are combined, and at other institutions of higher learning and training. The typical route into the university track is via the diploma of secondary high school education. Until 1965, higher education followed the traditional French system and was confined largely to four universities, of which two wer…
Formal education requirements for teachers increase according to the level of education in which they are expected to teach. Initial teacher training for the preprimary and primary levels (21/2 to 12 years of age) requires three years of concurrent academic/teaching training and teaching observation at the Institut Supérieur Pédagogique (French) or the Pedagogische Hogeschool (Flemis…
Following independence in 1830, provision of education in Belgium has gone through several phases. Nearly a century and a half of cultural and language strife has ended with constitutional reform and the formation of a federal state. The concomitant introduction of reforms in education have progressively decentralized decision making from the federal government and towards the communities. Through…
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