Preschoolers most proficient in language in West Flanders

91 percent of West Flemish preschoolers have sufficient language skills, seven percent could use extra support and only two percent of the children need intensive supervision. Thanks to the Language Screening, preschoolers with a (small) language delay can still be brushed up before the start of primary school, so that all children start at the same time.

Schools will receive extra resources (12 million euros in total) to provide children with extra language support. “We no longer look away from the language delay in some preschoolers,” says Weyts. “Fifteen percent in Flanders is a significant proportion of toddlers. It is crucial that we intervene before the start of primary school to prevent them from lagging behind for years due to a language delay”.

Regional differences

The very first Language Screening was conducted between October 10 and December 17, 2021 in every 3^the kindergarten. The services of Flemish Minister of Education Ben Weyts have requested data from a representative collection of 421 kindergartens, which together serve 13,000 preschoolers in the 3^the have kindergarten. 85 percent of the children have sufficient language skills, eleven percent require additional language support and four percent require intensive supervision.

Children who start primary school with a language deficiency do not have the same opportunities as other children: they often fall behind at school quickly. That is why, since this school year, every 3^the organized a Language Screening in kindergarten, with which language deficiency can be detected in time.

There are important differences between schools. For example, there are more children with a language deficiency in the Brussels-Capital Region. There, 1 in three children needs extra language support. In schools with many children with a different home language, the proportion of children who need intensive supervision is twice as high (8%), as is the proportion of children who need extra support (21%). In the City of Antwerp this concerns 28 percent of the children. In Ghent, 21 percent of children need extra language support.