Will Brussels City keep primary-school supplies free despite French Community savings?
Brussels City has committed to continue providing free school-supply kits to pupils in its municipal primary network, even as the French Community restructures funding under its savings programme. The practical point for families is narrower than the headline suggests: essential classroom supplies are covered in participating City schools, but meals, childcare, trips and personal items may still generate charges.
The measure can remove a sizeable and highly visible back-to-school purchase for thousands of families, but parents need to understand its limits. A free supplies package does not necessarily cover meals, childcare, excursions, residential classes, personal equipment or replacement costs.
has committed to keep providing free school-supply kits to primary pupils in its municipal network, despite changes to education funding announced in October 2025. At the municipal council meeting of 13 October, education alderwoman Faouzia Hariche said the City would continue the support from its own resources. For parents, the immediate takeaway is simple: do not buy an entire stationery list before checking with the school secretary, but do budget separately for services and items that the kit does not cover.
The undertaking concerns the schools for which the — officially Ville de Bruxelles/Stad Brussel — acts as the organising authority, or pouvoir organisateur. It is not an automatic benefit in every school located somewhere in the , nor in every school within the municipality’s boundaries. The Brussels Region has 19 communes, or gemeenten, and each school belongs to a particular language community, network and organising authority.
At the October 2025 council meeting, Hariche said had financed kits for nearly 8,000 primary pupils in 23 ordinary schools and five pedagogical centres since 2022, at an annual cost of roughly €370,000. The City’s subsequently reported that 8,548 pupils received level-appropriate kits at the start of the 2025-2026 school year, representing expenditure of €393,737. The packages included everyday materials such as notebooks, pens, pencils, glue, folders, a pencil case and, where appropriate, geometry equipment.
Those figures describe supplies, not a completely cost-free school year. Depending on the establishment and family’s choices, parents may still be billed for before- or after-school supervision, meals, excursions, residential trips or lost and damaged materials. A schoolbag, sports clothing and other personal belongings may also remain the family’s responsibility. The individual school’s règlement d’ordre intérieur and written cost estimate are therefore more useful than the shorthand expression “free school bill”.
## Why funding became uncertain
The issue arose when the government of the — constitutionally the — presented its 2026-2029 budget plan on 10 October 2025. The government said it would reshape existing free-meal and free-supply schemes, targeting some support more closely while incorporating part of the money into schools’ general operating grants. It presented this as a way to control a large structural deficit while protecting teaching and directing resources towards children with the greatest needs.
Municipal representatives and opposition parties warned that reducing earmarked grants could transfer costs to school organisers or families. ’s answer was to preserve its universal municipal kit rather than ask individual schools to identify which children could afford stationery. Hariche’s council statement was a political and budgetary commitment, however, not a guarantee that every education-related charge would disappear indefinitely.
The framework has continued to evolve since that initial dispute. A parliamentary text adopted in 2026 provides that, during the 2026-2027 transition, organising authorities receiving operating funding must make the learning materials required by the curriculum available free through the fifth year of ordinary primary school. Sixth-year pupils are temporarily outside that expanded obligation, with full primary coverage planned from 2027-2028. ’s broader kit policy is consequently most significant where it goes beyond the minimum transitional duty or gives families one predictable package rather than a school-by-school arrangement.
## Check the language system before relying on the promise
runs both French-speaking and Dutch-speaking schools, but their rules and admissions systems are not interchangeable. French-speaking municipal schools operate under the framework; Dutch-speaking schools follow Flemish Community rules and use the Brussels Dutch-language enrolment system. The City’s published kit figures come from its material concerning its French-speaking primary provision.
Parents considering a Dutch-language school should consult Inschrijven in Brussel and the school’s kostenregeling. Families choosing a French-language municipal school should use the City’s school directory and ask the secretariat for the current liste des frais. Neither the family’s home language nor nationality automatically determines the school system, although admission capacity, application procedures and priority rules can affect the available choice.
A useful three-step check is to identify the organising authority named on the school website, request the written cost estimate for the relevant year, and ask which objects must be supplied from home. Parents should specifically clarify meals, garderie or opvang, swimming, day trips, residential classes, sports clothing and replacement charges. The federal Belgium.be portal explains Belgium’s division of education powers, but the operational answer will normally come from the relevant community portal, municipal education department or school itself.
Families living in or attending school in the City’s territory — postcodes 1000, 1020, 1120 and 1130 — can also contact Nota Bene, the free municipal guidance service. It helps young people and parents understand enrolment, school pathways and the French-speaking system, with local offices including Rue de la Serrure/Grendelstraat in the centre, Rue de Moorslede/Moorsledestraat in Laeken and Avenue de Versailles/Versailleslaan in Neder-Over-Heembeek.
The broader lesson is that “free education” in Belgium rests on several overlapping layers. The communities set the education rules and distribute much of the funding; communes can organise schools and add local support; individual establishments explain which optional costs remain. ’s decision cushions families in its own network, but it cannot settle costs across all Brussels schools.
For the coming school year, parents should watch the kit notice issued by their own school rather than assume that a previous year’s contents will be identical. The City has publicly promised continuity, while the ’s transition changes the legal baseline through 2026-2027. What remains unknown is the final annual municipal cost, the exact contents of each level’s package and whether future budget pressure will alter ancillary benefits such as meals or activities.
Impact
Regional — The direct effect is confined to qualifying schools organised by the City of Brussels. Families elsewhere in the Brussels-Capital Region must check the policy of their own commune, school network and language community.
Local — The direct benefit is limited to qualifying primary schools organised by the City of Brussels through its Instruction publique service. Pupils in those schools receive essential classroom supplies without families having to buy the standard kit themselves. The policy does not automatically extend to schools run by another Brussels commune, another organising authority or a different language-community network. Families living elsewhere in the Brussels-Capital Region therefore need to verify the arrangements with their own school or commune.
What it means for you
If your child attends a City of Brussels municipal primary school, ask the school whether the free kit applies to the child’s year and request the exact contents before buying stationery. For 2026-2027, also check how the French Community’s transitional free-material coverage through fifth primary affects your school. Keep a separate budget for costs outside the promise, including meals, before- or after-school childcare, excursions, residential classes, personal equipment and replacement supplies. Parents outside the City-run network should contact their school or commune directly because the Brussels City commitment does not automatically apply.
Opposing perspectives
- Brussels City education authorities
Brussels City treats universal school-supply kits as a practical equality measure. Its position is that every pupil should begin with comparable equipment and that families should not have to select a school according to the price of basic classroom materials.
- French Community governing coalition
The MR–Les Engagés government has argued that its wider budget must be brought under control and that support can be targeted more effectively. It says part of the former earmarked funding is being incorporated into school operating resources rather than simply disappearing.
- Municipal and parliamentary opposition
Opposition representatives, including PS and PTB/PVDA figures, have warned that reducing or restructuring earmarked subsidies shifts responsibility towards communes, school organisers and potentially parents, creating unequal protection depending on local finances.
Who, where and what
Key people, places and terms in this story
The wider region whose other communes and school networks are not automatically covered by the City policy.
Commune and school organising authority financing the free supply kits in its municipal primary network.
The commune where the qualifying municipal primary schools are located.
French-speaking community authority that regulates and funds French-speaking education.
Belgian news outlet reporting on Brussels City’s decision to maintain the support.
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The commune where the qualifying municipal primary schools are located.
The wider region whose other communes and school networks are not automatically covered by the City policy.
French Community savings programme associated with the restructuring of education funding.
French Community parliamentary document containing provisions relevant to education and transitional material coverage.
Commune and school organising authority financing the free supply kits in its municipal primary network.
French-speaking community authority that regulates and funds French-speaking education.
Belgian news outlet reporting on Brussels City’s decision to maintain the support.
City of Brussels service responsible for the municipal primary provision covered by the published figures.
English-language name used for the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles in the article.
Legislature handling the decree-programme provisions referenced in the source material.
Brussels media outlet reporting that primary-school supplies would be offered by the City.
City of Brussels prevention-service resource helping families navigate school-related matters.
Sources & evidence
- View sourceVRT NWS — Brussel-Stad houdt schoolfactuur gratis ondanks besparingen Franse GemeenschapPrimaryprimary· vrtnws.beRetrieved 24 August 2026
- View sourceCity of Brussels municipal council record, 13 October 2025official· brussels.be· 13 October 2025Retrieved 24 August 2026· 354 days ago· Dated
- View sourceInstruction publique — Nouvelle distribution de kits scolaires gratuitsofficial· instructionpublique.bruxelles.be· 27 August 2025Retrieved 24 August 2026· 401 days ago· Dated
- View sourceFédération Wallonie-Bruxelles government — Budget 2026-2029official· gouvernement.cfwb.be· 10 October 2025Retrieved 24 August 2026· 357 days ago· Dated
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This briefing was prepared with AI assistance and reviewed by a Belgium Impulse editor before publication. methodology.