Schools steering plans

Policy development
Regulation/Legislation
Belgium-FR
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Timeline
  • 2018Approved/Agreed
  • 2019Implementation
  • 2020Implementation
  • 2021Implementation
  • 2022Implementation
  • 2023Implementation
  • 2024Implementation
ID number
28025

Objectives

Goals and objectives of the policy development.

Reinforcing quality assurance and facilitating improvements in the education system (performances and equity), including the general (nationally referred to as transition system), the qualification and vocational education (nationally referred as qualifying system).

Description

What/How/Who/For whom/When of the policy development in detail, explaining its activities and annual progress, main actors and target groups.

The reform of the School steering plan was established in 2018-19, based on a feedback loop system. So-called contracts of objectives, which cover a period of six years, are introduced to assist reaching the education improvement goals set by the Government of the Walloon-Brussels Federation. The steering plan lists 15 levers for action such as decreasing school dropout rates, digitalising, or relationships with parents. Pedagogical teams - relying on indicator assessment - decide on their specific objectives (three to five). The school carries out an annual assessment of the progress made and decides on further actions as needed.

There is continuous exchange and monitoring between the administration and schools. Delegates to contracts of objectives (DCOs), assisted by zone directors, represent the ministry of education. Constant dialogue between school boards and DCOs is encouraged. DCOs carry out an interim evaluation after three years and a final one at the end of the six-year contract. In response to the interim review, a modification of specific objectives can be considered. The introduction of this mechanism aims at reinforcing quality assurance in the education system, and at ensuring every school focus on performance and equity challenges.

2018
Approved/Agreed
2019
Implementation

In 2019, about one-third of schools were involved in the new schools steering plan system.

2020
Implementation

In 2020, about two-thirds of schools were involved in the new schools steering plan system.

2021
Implementation

In 2021, it was initially planned that almost all schools should have been involved in the new schools steering plan system. Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the last third of schools have had an extended period to fulfil their steering plan.

2022
Implementation

By the end of 2022, about 80% of the schools were involved in the new school steering system. The remaining schools should see their contracts of objectives start in the first half of 2023.

2023
Implementation

Since 2023, one-third of schools with an objective-based contract have undergone an interim evaluation.

2024
Implementation

In 2024, 100% of schools are applying these school steering plans.

Bodies responsible

This section lists main bodies that are responsible for the implementation of the policy development or for its specific parts or activities, as indicated in the regulatory acts. The responsibilities are usually explained in its description.
  • Ministry of the French Community

Target groups

Those who are positively and directly affected by the measures of the policy development; those on the list are specifically defined in the EU VET policy documents. A policy development can be addressed to one or several target groups.

Learners

  • Learners in upper secondary, including apprentices

Thematic categories

Thematic categories capture main aspects of the decision-making and operation of national VET and LLL systems. These broad areas represent key elements that all VET and LLL systems have to different extents and in different combinations, and which come into focus depending on the EU and national priorities. Thematic categories are further divided into thematic sub-categories. Based on their description, policy developments can be assigned to one or several thematic categories.

Governance of VET and lifelong learning

This thematic category looks at existing legal frameworks providing for strategic, operational – including quality assurance – and financing arrangements for VET and lifelong learning (LLL). It examines how VET and LLL-related policies are placed in broad national socioeconomic contexts and coordinate with other strategies and policies, such as economic, social and employment, growth and innovation, recovery and resilience.

This thematic category covers partnerships and collaboration networks of VET stakeholders – especially the social partners – to shape and implement VET in a country, including looking at how their roles and responsibilities for VET at national, regional and local levels are shared and distributed, ensuring an appropriate degree of autonomy for VET providers to adapt their offer.

The thematic category also includes efforts to create national, regional and sectoral skills intelligence systems (skills anticipation and graduate tracking) and using skills intelligence for making decisions about VET and LLL on quality, inclusiveness and flexibility.

Further developing national quality assurance systems

This thematic sub-category refers to further development of national quality assurance (QA) systems for IVET and CVET, for all learning environments (school-based provision and work-based learning, including apprenticeships) and all learning types (digital, face-to-face or blended), delivered by both public and private providers. These systems are underpinned by the EQAVET quality criteria and by indicative descriptors applied both at system and provider levels, as defined in Annex II of the VET Recommendation. The sub-category concerns creating and improving external and self-evaluation of VET providers, and establishing criteria of QA, accreditation of providers and programmes. It also covers the activities of Quality assurance national reference points for VET on implementing and further developing the EQAVET framework, including the implementation of peer reviews at VET system level.

Subsystem

Part of the vocational education and training and lifelong learning systems the policy development applies to.
IVET

Further reading

Sources for further reading where readers can find more information on policy developments: links to official documents, dedicated websites, project pages. Some sources may only be available in national languages.
Decree on the implementation of the pilot plan for schools

Country

Belgium-FR

Type of development

Policy developments are divided into three types: strategy/action plan; regulation/legislation; and practical measure/initiative.
Regulation/Legislation
Cite as

Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2025). Schools steering plans: Belgium-FR. In Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2025). Timeline of VET policies in Europe (2024 update) [Online tool].

https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/hu/tools/timeline-vet-policies-europe/search/28025