Brussels Faces Drasticโ Measures to Avert Teacher Salary Crisis, Experts Urge
Brusselsโฃ – A committee of experts has proposedโ a series ofโ perhaps disruptive measuresโ to stabilize the โฃfinances of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation (FWB), including reforms impacting โteachers‘ salaries, student fees, and educational โprograms. The recommendations come as the FWB โgrapples with a โฃgrowing deficit and rising debt interest charges.
facing a potential inability โฃto pay teachers, theโ committee suggests โseveral avenues for savings โฃwithin โhigher education, where โexpenditure per โคstudent is already 22% โขlower thanโข in the Flemish community. These include increasing the minerval (student โtuition fees),which haven’t been indexed since 2011,reforming study allowances,and raising contributions from European students.
Further cost-cutting โmeasures focus on streamlining education. Experts advocate โฃfor reducing the theoretical โand effective duration of studiesโค through improved student โขorientation, revaluing short-cycleโฃ training programs, โand โshortening courseโข lengths. This coudl involve limiting course offerings or forcing mergers betweenโ Hautesโฃ รฉcoles,even those within differentโค networks.
The proposals extend beyond higherโข education. The committee โคsuggests mergers and increased registration fees in โadult education, reforming financing for crรจches with potential โparentalโข invoicing (a monthly package instead of per-day charges), savings at RTBF, modifying pricing policies for culturalโ institutions (limiting free access to thoseโ in need), and decreasing the number of ADEPS sports centers – currently โฃ17 in FWB compared to 3 โฃBloso centers inโ Flanders.
The Committee of Experts acknowledges the “human, social and political difficulties” theseโ recommendations will likely generate, but stresses their “absolute necessity” and “extreme urgency.”โข They note that the โคcurrentโ government’s โขgoal of reducing the deficit fromโค 1.5 to 1.2 billion euros is only a “firstโ step,” particularlyโ as debt interest โคcharges are projected to โขrise from 288 million euros in 2025 to 583 million euros inโข 2029.
The โexpert committee includes Henri Bogaert, Etienne de Callatay, Philippe Defeyt, Fanny Dethier,โ Etienne Denoรซl, Alexandre Girard, Jean Hindriks, Delphineโข Vanโ Hoolandt and Magali Verdonck.