Language Divisions in Education
When Belgium gave more power to the cultural communities the goal was to allow each of their distinct cultures to administer education based on their beliefs and traditions. These communities were divided into the three national languages Dutch, French and German. The Dutch speaking community falling under the Flemish half of Belgium and the French and Germans residing in Wallonia. Language is emphasized in primary education and most people in Belgium speak multiple languages. In some schools multiple languages are mandatory even in primary, such as schools in Brussels teaching French and Dutch and schools in the German community teaching French in the first or second year.
The Flemish and Walloon education systems although structured similarly, are very different from one another. The Flemish system is designed similar to that of the Netherlands, which can be considered Anglo-Saxon with more tests given with multiple choice type questions. This is similar to how many international tests are recorded and administered. The Wallonia system is based on the French system that centers its assessments more on written works. This is one reason that could account for disparities between students from these Regions.
Holding Students Back
Another difference between these systems is that the Walloon systems practices keeping students back if they do not meets the requirements to move to the next year of education. This is a common practice that the French community believed allows the student to mature and study harder the next year in order to achieve high enough grades to make it to the next level of education. Although sometimes these students can be persuaded to join vocational schools (or less academic tracks), because holding students back is so common student will often retry the same courses. In Flanders they believe that it is best socially for students to continue their education and in stead persuade these students to move towards less academic tracks like vocational studies.
Disparities between systems
Given that the different regions choose to teach their students in a different type of school system we would certainly expect some variation test scores on international tests. The problem is that there are some large disparities within the country because of this. Students in the Flemish community are some of the top performers in Europe while the German and French community are closer to the average. The French students in Belgium were the lowest achievers on the 2012 PISA exams. Although Dutch, French and German students are all grouped under the country name there is separate data available for each language group. Flemish students outscored both the German and French speaking students in all areas of testing (Math, Language and Science). The mean scores in Math for the Flemish, German and French community were 531, 511 and 493 respectively. In Reading and science results were similar with the Flemish students doing much better than the German students who in turn did better than the French students. This puts the Flemish students on close to the top of the list in the world for education but leaves the other language communities in the average.
The Flemish and Walloon education systems although structured similarly, are very different from one another. The Flemish system is designed similar to that of the Netherlands, which can be considered Anglo-Saxon with more tests given with multiple choice type questions. This is similar to how many international tests are recorded and administered. The Wallonia system is based on the French system that centers its assessments more on written works. This is one reason that could account for disparities between students from these Regions.
Holding Students Back
Another difference between these systems is that the Walloon systems practices keeping students back if they do not meets the requirements to move to the next year of education. This is a common practice that the French community believed allows the student to mature and study harder the next year in order to achieve high enough grades to make it to the next level of education. Although sometimes these students can be persuaded to join vocational schools (or less academic tracks), because holding students back is so common student will often retry the same courses. In Flanders they believe that it is best socially for students to continue their education and in stead persuade these students to move towards less academic tracks like vocational studies.
Disparities between systems
Given that the different regions choose to teach their students in a different type of school system we would certainly expect some variation test scores on international tests. The problem is that there are some large disparities within the country because of this. Students in the Flemish community are some of the top performers in Europe while the German and French community are closer to the average. The French students in Belgium were the lowest achievers on the 2012 PISA exams. Although Dutch, French and German students are all grouped under the country name there is separate data available for each language group. Flemish students outscored both the German and French speaking students in all areas of testing (Math, Language and Science). The mean scores in Math for the Flemish, German and French community were 531, 511 and 493 respectively. In Reading and science results were similar with the Flemish students doing much better than the German students who in turn did better than the French students. This puts the Flemish students on close to the top of the list in the world for education but leaves the other language communities in the average.
PISA 2012 Results
Here is a breakdown of mean scores by students in different language areas in Belgium
For more information on PISA 2012 results within the country visit this site:
PISA 2012 - Belgium results
PISA 2012 - Belgium results
Here are the results from PISA 2012
For more information on the PISA 2012 test and results Click here