There are two main school systems in Belgium: State-owned schools and state-free schools. Most of the state-free schools are catholic oriented and are also subsidised by the government.
Pre-school
Free schooling is provided to every child from the age of 2 years 6 months. In most schools the child can start in school as soon as they reach this age, so class size for the youngest children grows during the year. The school year runs from 1 September to 30 June, but each class typically has children who were all born in the same calendar year.
Primary School
Consists of six forms and the subjects given are generally the same at all schools. Compulsory schooling starts at age 6. Most schools are either provided by the local commune, and are therefore secular, or are church-sponsored schools, mainly catholic. Education is rather traditional, concentrating on reading, writing and arithmetic. There are also many private schools set up to serve various international communities in Belgium, mainly around the larger cities.
Class size is around 20 children, although this is growing due to financial pressures on the school system. In commune schools it is compulsory to learn a 2nd language (French or Dutch depending on the location of the school) from the age of 11, although many schools start earlier.
Secondary School
Students can choose what "direction" they want to follow depending on their skill level and interests. Secondary school is divided into four general types. Each type consists of a set of different directions that may vary from school to school. The general types are as follows:
- General Secondary Education (A.S.O.): Most subjects are very general and theoretical and form the basis for higher education. Once students have completed all six years, it is expected that they will continue studying (e.g.: university). Otherwise the acquired diploma would be considered useless if they were to try to enter the job market.
- Technical Secondary Education (T.S.O.): Subjects are more technical and practical. Usually lasts six years. Once students have completed all six years, they are generally considered ready for the job market in whatever speciality they chose. They may also choose to continue studying to have more theoretical background.
- Vocational Secondary Education (B.S.O.): Very practical and very job specific. Six years plus seventh specialisation year. With some "directions" inside B.S.O. there are 2 specialisation years.
- Art Secondary Education (K.S.O.): Less known and mostly artistic subjects given
After secondary school, graduates can choose to continue studying. They have two choices: Higher Education or University. Unlike primary and secondary, it's not free. Students will probably have to pay between € 70 and € 650 per year depending on their situation (The rest is government subsidised).
Higher Education
Since the adoption of the Bologna process in most European countries, the higher education system in Belgium follows the Bachelor/Master system:
In Belgium, both Universities and Colleges are allowed to teach Bachelor and Master classes, either practical or theoretical.
Prior to the adoption of the Bologna process, the Belgian higher education system had two degrees:
- Graduate degree (Dutch: graduaat, French: graduat): A 3-year long course in a college. Mostly practical.
- Licentiate degree (Dutch: licentiaat, French: licentiat): A 4 or 5-year long course in a University. Mostly theoretical.
The licentiate degree was split up in two other degrees:
- Candidate diploma (Dutch: kandidaat, French: candidat): The first 2 years at a University
- Licentiate diploma (Dutch: licentiaat, French: licentiat): The last 2 or 3 years at a University.
Because the licentiate degree was split up in two cycles, a licentiate degree was usually called a 2-cycle education, and a graduate degree was called a 1-cycle education.
A University education was not considered finished until the licentiate diploma is obtained. Occasionally it was possible to switch specializations after obtaining the candidate diploma. For example, a student with a mathematics candidate diploma was often allowed to start in the third year of computer science class. Sometimes a graduate diploma was also accepted as an equivalent to a candidate diploma, allowing for 2 or 3 more years of education at a University.
The list of the Belgian universities is here : List of universities in Belgium
The content of this page is retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Belgium under GFDL
