Second Information Evening on the Reform of Secondary Studies

Tuesday, 25 June 2013, 20.00 to 22.00 hours
Canteen of Woluwe school

Agenda:

• State of play of the discussions of the reform of secondary studies in the different committees of the European School system
• Presentation of the contents of the proposals
• Discussion

For Me?

This invitation goes to all parents because such a reform will eventually concern all of us, not just those who already have children in the secondary school today. We are sorry for the short notice, but it only recently became apparent that due to the urgency of the matter, this information/ discussion evening needs to take place before the summer.

Background:

Since our first information evening for parents on 14 March 2013, the secondary reform has been discussed further behind closed doors.

In its April meeting, the Board of Governors enlarged the mandate for the Working group to study the continuation of sections in secondary and requesting the preparation of a comprehensive proposal covering S1 to S7 to be put to vote in December to the Board of Governors

No official documents have been distributed and have been sent to the parents associations since. For parents, only a representative of Interparents is allowed to participate in the Working Group discussing new proposals to modify comprehensively the structure of S4 to S7. Other stakeholders have not been properly consulted either.

The proposals currently under discussion risk limiting the choices of the S4 to S7 students in a very restrictive manner. It includes teaching of Integrated Sciences and Integrated Human Sciences even in S6 and S7 and maintains the modular approach for math in S4, just to mention two points which were unanimously opposed by the parents present at our first parents evening.

What Happens Next?

We fear that the proposals could be finalized by the Working Group in September without proper assessment of its pedagogical impact and of the detrimental consequences for the university acceptance of our students. It could be rushed through the different decision-making bodies of the European School system and be endorsed by the Board of Governors in December 2013.

The four Brussels schools are discussing these issues together, in order to analyze proposals, discuss alternatives and feed the views of their parents into Interparents. As part of this action, the Woluwé school is kindly hosting this information evening, in order to share with you the information available to us and listen to the views expressed by parents.