Dutch-speaking children do not get priority over the schools in the Vlaamse Rand: Legally impossible

Dutch speakers that their children enroll in a school in the Flemish periphery around Brussels will still not prevail. This is clear from a reply of Flemish minister of Education Hilde Crevits (CD&V) on a question of Vlaams belang-president Tom Van Grieken. The proposal of Crevits is "not legally possible”.

Crevits decided in september to explore how they are in the schools in the Vlaamse rand, a minimum percentage of pupils with at least one Dutch parent could ensure a place. A priority scheme. That was according to Crevits a "necessary measure” because a lot of French-speaking parents in Brussels also opt for a Dutch-speaking school in the Edge.

But that priority scheme will not come. Crevits early legal advice on its administration, and that makes objection on three points. First: because the Vlaamse Rand, in principle, a monolingual education landscape, there is no legal basis such as that in the bilingual region of Brussels-Capital. Second: if the priority for the Dutch is limited to the Flemish Border to create a distinction within the Dutch-speaking schools in Flanders. Finally: a precedence rule could be considered as a form of discrimination on grounds of nationality.