FAPEO warns school reforms will deepen pressure on pupils and budgets

Updated 23 August 2026 — BRUSSELS — The Federation of Associations of Parents in Official Education, known as FAPEO, warned on 21 August that measures accompanying the new school year in French-speaking Belgium risk putting greater financial and academic pressure on pupils, families and schools. Its intervention comes days before classes resume across the Wallonia-Brussels Federation.

FAPEO welcomed the extension of subsidised school supplies through fifth primary but said the available funding had fallen to about one-third of last year’s level. According to the federation, schools may have to draw on operating budgets, leaving less money for cultural outings, trips or specialist equipment. The Wallonia-Brussels Federation government confirms that its 2026 budget redirects part of the funding for free supplies and meals into schools’ general operating resources, while requiring support through sixth primary for children with the greatest needs.

The parents’ federation also focused on school disengagement. It said more than 100,000 pupils were affected in 2025, compared with about 32,000 in 2020, and described nearly one secondary pupil in five as concerned. These figures refer to recorded absenteeism and disengagement indicators, not necessarily permanent departure from education. FAPEO criticised the two-year postponement of the secondary-school prevention framework and argued that amendments adopted during the summer weakened the system’s preventive purpose.

Academic assessment is another fault line. FAPEO said the pass mark for the CEB, CE1D and CESS external certificate examinations will rise from 50% to 60% from June 2027. The government’s 2024–2029 policy declaration confirms the planned 60% threshold while preserving the decision-making authority of class councils. FAPEO contends that raising the mark without stronger learning support will intensify pressure and increase repetition; the government presents tougher assessment and targeted support as part of a drive to improve standards.

The federation also objects to planned appeal changes under which a second review of a repetition decision will no longer be automatic from 2027. It says families who do not know the procedure will be disadvantaged.

The immediate test is implementation. Schools and parents now await detailed guidance on funding, the first year of the common core in lower secondary education and the safeguards attached to the 2027 assessment and appeal changes. The scale of any effect on repetition or attainment is not yet known.