A world-class educational system
Flanders has one of the best education systems in the world, with an even balance between the training programmes and the specialisation options. Since 2004-2005 all institutions of higher education in Flanders use the Bachelor/Master structure, ensuring greater international transparency as to the diplomas obtained, in accordance with the Bologna declaration.
After obtaining the certificate of secondary education, one can choose between:
- PBA (Professional Bachelor training programmes), which are only organised at colleges for higher education. These Bachelor studies offer practically oriented training programmes.
- ABA (Academic Bachelor training programmes) to be taken at a university or a college for higher education affiliated with an Association (= institutional collaboration between a university and one or more colleges for higher education). These studies are a preparation for the Master studies.
- MA (Master training programmes to be taken at a university or a college for higher education affiliated with an Association).
Bridging programmes enable the student, upon completing a PBA training, to move to a MA training.
There are also the BanaBa and ManaMa training programmes as well as multiple further-training courses, continuing-education courses and post-graduate courses. A ‘DO’ (Doctorate training programmes) is obtained at the university.
There are no universities in West Flanders. However, the province does have three colleges for higher education (HOWEST, KATHO, KHBO), as well as the KULAK – the bachelor campus of K.U. Leuven (Catholic University of Louvain) in Kortrijk.
Flanders promotes participation in European Educational programmes, such as the Lifelong Learning Programme (LLP). They include, amongst others, the Erasmus, Comenius and Leonardo da Vinci projects (exchange projects for students and trainees or pupils, cross-border training programmes, …). Additionally, within the framework of ‘Lifelong Learning’, an increasing number of evening courses are being offered at colleges for higher education as well as at the KULAK. Moreover, there are several local Centres for Adult Education, thus allowing for the offering of training programmes of the various centres to be optimized.
The numerous schools in West Flanders also offer a few unique, sector-oriented training programmes. For instance, there is a very broad offering of specialised training programmes for textile and design (Kortrijk), hospitality and tourism (Bruges), maritime techniques (Ostend), and textile production techniques (Waregem). These training programmes ensure that the textile sector, among others, can always rely on motivated and highly skilled workers who can be immediately put to work.
The Federal Experience Fund provides financial support to companies that conduct research and make changes related to the working conditions and the organisation of the work for people aged over 45. Indeed, an age-conscious personnel policy that considers the quality of labour performed by older workers is becoming necessary, not only to protect the health and welfare of older workers, but also to maintain the activities of companies employing older staff as well as to support economic growth. These projects prompt changes in the organization of the work, whereby older employees are utilised differently and their expertise is passed on to younger colleagues.
Relevant education figures (2008-2009)
Breakdown by education level: Flanders West Flanders
- Primary education: 654,884 (50.65%) 113,073 (52.49%)
- Secondary education: 456,694 (35.32%) 87,230 (40.50%)
- Colleges of higher education: 109,795 (8.49%) 14,097 (6.54%)
- Universities: 71,645 (5.54%) 1,000 (0.47%)
The breakdown of the number of higher education students studying in West Flanders is as follows:
- HOWEST: 4,206
- KATHO: 6,582
- KHBO: 3,309
- KULAK: approximately 1,000.
The Province of West Flanders is also home to two prestigious educational and research institutes: the European College and UNU-CRIS. For the sake of completeness, we also mention that each college for higher education as well as the KULAK have ‘Centres of Excellence’ which conduct research in the area of high technology for companies, and provide highly specializes services to society.
