Slightly less than one in five primary schools does not have a gymnastics teacher

Flemish MP for Vooruit Steve Vandenberghe requested the figures from Flemish Minister of Education Ben Weyts (N-VA). As a former school director, Vandenberghe thinks it is unacceptable that fifteen percent of primary schools in West Flanders do not have a gymnastics teacher.

“The Flemish Government provides too few resources for primary schools to hire a full-fledged gymnastics teacher. However, they are desperately needed: more than twenty percent of our young people are overweight. Moreover, research shows that physical education (PE) is not only good for health, but also improves school performance and a sense of community among students,” says Vandenberghe.

Below average

Primary schools are free to choose to hire a separate teacher for PE lessons. In the 2021-2022 school year, 75 of the 493 (15%) West Flemish primary schools did not have a PE teacher. This is 12.5 percent throughout Flanders.

“In 15 percent of West Flemish primary schools, other masters and teachers have to give sports lessons between their hours of mathematics and language. It is incomprehensible that the Flemish Government does not provide an extra budget for this,” says Steve Vandenberghe. “Their range of tasks is only increasing and more and more teachers are dropping out. That can’t be the point.”

After Limburg (17.6%), West Flanders therefore scores the worst in terms of the number of specialized gymnastics teachers. Figures for the past and next school year are not yet available.