Presentation of school population projections to Flemish Parliament

Senior researcher Johan Surkyn from ID and his colleagues from HIVA (KULeuven) presented the results of the first Flemish capacity monitor for school infrastructure in the Flemish Parliament. The monitor offers a refined estimate of the expected demand for places in primary and secondary classrooms, as well as of the expected future supply capacity. It is the first time such a detailed research has been done into the education capacity needs up to 2030. Flemish Minister of Education Hilde Crevits ordered the study in order to dispose of more precise estimations of local capacity needs so to better target the provided resources for capacity.

The monitor estimates a stabilisation of the growth of the school population in mainstream primary schools in Flanders as from school year 2017-2018, with a slight decline until the 2023-2024 school year. In mainstream secondary education, a significant increase is estimated starting from next school year to the school year 2025-2026. Large cities and the Brussels Capital Region will experience a global rise in their school population. More information, tables and figures can be found on the website of the Flemish Ministry for Education (in Dutch).

The results of the capacity monitor were broadly commented in the press in articles by among others  VRT news, De Standaard, Het Laatste Nieuws, Gazet van Antwerpen and Het Nieuwsblad. The latter provides a search tool and a map where you can check whether and to what extent by 2020 a supply shortage can be predicted in the primary and secondary schools in your commune.