Almost half of the schools changed directors | Domestic

In recent years, more and more schools in Flanders have changed directors. In 2018-2019 it was still 28 percent, namely 1,053 out of 3,711. In 2019-2020, that figure rose to 37 percent and last school year to 47 percent, or almost half of all schools.

“It’s practically a dovecote,” responds Elisabeth Meuleman (Groen). She points out that the figures have been rising for ten years. Under current Minister of Education Ben Weyts, the figures have become “completely dramatic”, according to Meuleman. “Since the start of this government, the number of director changes in secondary education has doubled: there were 339 changes in the 2019-2020 school year. As many as 688 in the 2022-2023 school year.”

Meuleman points to the high workload as a possible cause. “The range of tasks is very extensive and the administrative burden is enormous,” says Meuleman. The new position of deputy director has been introduced in primary education, but because this intervention was only implemented in September, it is too early to see an effect.

For Groen, the problem also runs deeper. The party insists on more support, especially for novice school directors. “Job placements made it more feasible for novice school directors to keep the job. However, these were canceled by Weyts because of his savings on education. That is incomprehensible,” said Meuleman.

Groen wants to see new support processes for starting management and also wants to reduce the administrative paper mill.