Minister approves controversial change to HE system

A controversial change to the Flemish higher education system which will result in new students having to pass all courses from their first two years to proceed to their third year has been approved by the Flemish Education Minister Ben Weyts, writes Lauren Walker for The Brussels Times.

In Belgium, the higher education system is set up in a way that allows students to carry subjects that they didn’t pass during the first exams for years. This results in more than one in four students who enrolled in a college or university leaving without obtaining a degree and just one-third obtaining a bachelor degree within the set period of three years.

Students starting in the academic year 2023-24 will now have to pass all their subjects of their first and second years before being able to start their third year, Weyts announced on Monday 13 June. If they fail, they cannot re-enrol in the same programme at their university or college. “I realise that this is not popular. But we are doing this in the interest of the students. Today, they are the biggest losers of excessive flexibility,” he said.
Full report on The Brussels Times site