For the third time since the beginning of the year, the teachers intended to denounce once again the succession of reforms imposed on the school, the high number of students per class, the weight of their administrative work, the government’s desire to impose a new procedure for evaluating teachers, as well as a general lack of resources.
In the wake of the demonstration, the Government of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation met with the representatives of the trade union organizations and brought several new ideas to the table which prove, he says, that he is not deaf to the problems on the ground which are reported to him.
Class size: There is a decree which aims to regulate class size (example: 1st and 2nd primary, the average size must be 20 pupils, with a maximum of 24). The feedback from the trade union organizations mentions various problems posed by derogations. Conversely, in some cases, it can sometimes appear a number well below the standards. This observed imbalance leads to inequity for the students and for the staff members concerned. The Government wishes to start a project quickly on this point, in order to objectify these situations and better regulate the mechanism for granting exemptions. This project will be started with the unions and the organizing authorities at the start of the 2022 academic year and should lead to the adoption of concrete measures by June 2023 at the latest. In the meantime, the administration services will be responsible for exercising increased vigilance in the examination of requests for derogation from the standards on which they must rule.
Teacher evaluation: The draft decree is still under discussion and has not been tabled with the Government. At this stage, its entry into force is scheduled for January 1, 2023. A one-year postponement is proposed in order to allow the discussions started on the content of the text to be continued and to mature it on various aspects. It will be a question of reinforcing the positive aspects of the main part of the system which should make it possible to better accompany and support teachers, particularly at the start of their career, to take into account the pedagogical specificities of their profession and to guarantee the rights of staff members in the case where an evaluation procedure is initiated.