The number of foreign-speaking students taking Dutch lessons is on the rise. That’s what ‘De Zondag’ writes.
This year, 18,707 foreign-speaking students are taking Dutch lessons in the Centers for Adult Education (CVO) of Catholic Education Flanders. That is almost 19 percent more than in 2022. The Centers for Basic Education Ligo recorded an increase of 15 percent this year compared to last year. And the Community Education Centers for Adult Education saw the number of non-native speakers taking Dutch lessons increase to 35,700 students in 2022.
“Several factors are the basis of this strong growth,” says Eddy Demeersseman, pedagogical advisor at Catholic Education Flanders, in De Zondag. “The war refugees from Ukraine were spread across the entire country and there is also a general increased influx of refugees. We also note that more and more people attach importance to knowing our language.” That also brings challenges. “We also feel a teacher shortage,” says Demeersseman. “In addition, there is also a problem of availability of classrooms, and then there is the number of teaching hours that we can organize.”
Flemish Minister of Education Ben Weyts (N-VA) responds in the weekly magazine that the budgets have increased to 43 million euros this school year. “It is true that the influx of refugees, but also of fortune seekers, has become enormous. We expect the federal government to intervene on this.”
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