Hasselt ( Brussels Morning Newspaper) – According to Het Belang van Limburg, teachers, parents, and school boards from Virga Jessecollege and Kindsheid Jesu have declared the Sint-Quintinus school group in default by letter. This action is due to a perceived lack of voice in shaping the future directions of the school group’s strategies.
While they welcomed the decision to abandon the idea of a “mega campus,” they felt that their input was insufficiently considered, leading to feelings of hurt and frustration within the educational community.
Teachers, parents and the school boards of Virga Jesse College and Kindsheid Jesu declared the Sint-Quintinus school group in default due to a lack of consultation regarding future plans. They raise questions on the division of the education domain and the implications for learners in Hasselt. The Sint-Quintinus school group introduced its EF future 2030 education plan in early December and showed what secondary school education in Hasselt will look like. The latter announcement has caused concern among staff members who assumed that the HAST campus would become a huge facility to accommodate more than 3,500 students. Though the specific plan has not been put into operation, teachers do have concerns about many aspects of the new structure. Such things as the future of the boarding school, the available space on a new campus, and the ability of Hasselt as a school city are challenged. One of the main issues of concern is the envisaged spatial location of the subjects of Economics & Organisation and Art & Creation in the Guffenslaan campus, changes that teachers believe compromise the impossibility of maintaining student friendships. According to the coordinating director of the school group, Tom Cox, he bes that consultations were made before arriving at these changes. However, the authors of the default letter expect that this measure will create a desire to resume the dialogue with the school board. They regard it as the final point of consultation before they take a further step of lodging a complaint to the CCP Committee for Careful Governance. This committee is empowered to administer administrative penalties or demand a new meeting from all the parties.
The Context of Educational Reforms in Hasselt
The current situation could be attributed to a range of issues that are universal to every organization, especially educational institutions in Belgium, in terms of resource control and management. Sint-Quintinus school group operates various campuses, and for the past few years, it has been pondering more effective ways of changing educational requirements to make campuses more accommodating and accessible to all student populations. The Education Future Plan 2030 attempts to update or revolutionize secondary education by reorganizing its functioning and departing from such familiar categories as aso (general education), tso (technical), bso (vocational), and so (artistic) to such categories as instance, Economics & Organisation, and STEM.
In this context, the discussions about the quality and equity of education in Flanders still continue. There are many concerns, such as appropriate high standards for students, the question of an increasing student base in the same facilities and many more, as the educators pointed out. This concern has raised doubt about the manner in which students will be able to access the services they need on some of these large campuses. Besides, other problems like a shortage of teachers have added to these dilemmas, such as the need for school boards to communicate effectively with teachers, parents, and students. The events that occurred at Virga Jessecollege and Kindsheid Jesu show that more and more teachers require the policy-making of the schools they work at to be more transparent and engaging. These discussions should explain, though, that it is in the interest of all parties to collaborate in order to maintain the high quality and richness of Hasselt’s educational offer while at the same time not leaving unresolved concerns and claims coming from various stakeholders unaddressed.