- 2019Implementation
- 2020Implementation
- 2021Implementation
- 2022Implementation
- 2023Implementation
- 2024Implementation
Background
In 2019, 11.8% of young people in Brussels left school without a secondary school diploma and 25% of learners in Brussels are at least two years behind in their school programme.
Since 2000, the Region of Brussels has supported initiatives from the associative sector to fight against school dropout.
Objectives
To face the challenges, the Brussels Region has put in place funding mechanisms to support schools, municipalities and the non-profit sector to prevent school dropout, to intervene when a student is about to drop out, or to re-engage the young person who interrupted a programme.
Description
As part of its 2025 Strategy, the government put the following measures in place to combat early school leaving:
- strengthening its 'DAS and DASC' mechanisms (stated as a priority, see below for further details on these mechanisms)
- increasing financial support but also to simplify (one call every three years),
- introducing more systematic monitoring of actions (see school service).
In 2016, the Brussels government, within the framework of the Brussels programme for education (Strategy 2025) created (within perspective.brussels) the School Service, in charge of the fight against dropping out of school but also of the monitoring of projects. It was initiated by the various regional actors, whose activities are financially supported for this purpose.
The multidisciplinary centre of expertise perspective.brussels is a public interest body, created by Ordinance of the Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region, on 29 July 2015. It brings together expertise in knowledge and territorial development, statistics and socio-economic analyses, support for the school sector and architectural quality. The team follows school developments, for which action by the Brussels Region can be useful: improvement of the quality of the infrastructure, coordination and centre of expertise for the fight against school dropout.
At the end of 2019, the Brussels government approved to pay a subsidy to the Brussels municipalities for their actions to fight...
As part of its 2025 Strategy, the government put the following measures in place to combat early school leaving:
- strengthening its 'DAS and DASC' mechanisms (stated as a priority, see below for further details on these mechanisms)
- increasing financial support but also to simplify (one call every three years),
- introducing more systematic monitoring of actions (see school service).
In 2016, the Brussels government, within the framework of the Brussels programme for education (Strategy 2025) created (within perspective.brussels) the School Service, in charge of the fight against dropping out of school but also of the monitoring of projects. It was initiated by the various regional actors, whose activities are financially supported for this purpose.
The multidisciplinary centre of expertise perspective.brussels is a public interest body, created by Ordinance of the Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region, on 29 July 2015. It brings together expertise in knowledge and territorial development, statistics and socio-economic analyses, support for the school sector and architectural quality. The team follows school developments, for which action by the Brussels Region can be useful: improvement of the quality of the infrastructure, coordination and centre of expertise for the fight against school dropout.
At the end of 2019, the Brussels government approved to pay a subsidy to the Brussels municipalities for their actions to fight early school leaving within the local prevention system and proximity plans. EUR 7 350 000 has been granted and more than 440 projects selected for the 2019-21 period. The Region pays particular attention to the most disadvantaged groups and to the participation of parents through two mechanisms:
- the school attachment system (DAS): this concerns activities to prevent early school leaving that must take place in school, outside of school time; 384 approved projects (+/- 70% of the budget);
- the support and accompaniment system for educational and citizenship support activities for children and young people (DASC): the government supports 58 associations.
At the end of 2019, the Brussels government granted a subsidy to the Brussels municipalities for their actions to fight early school leaving within the local prevention system and proximity plans.
On 7 July 2020, the Government approved its post-COVID-19 recovery plan, one of the priorities of which is the fight against school dropout. Amongst the measures adopted are financial support for the recruitment of one person that works full time per municipality to ensure the consistency and effectiveness of local actions to fight against early school leaving.
In 2021, thanks to the networking system encouraged by the perspective.brussels School Service, the Brussels Region can now rely on a professionalised and active communal network to carry out prevention in the fight against school dropout (via the Municipal school attendance Plan, pASc, Plan d'accrochage scolaire communal).
The pASc call, launched in July 2021, led to the introduction by the 19 municipal prevention services or mandated services of a school attendance plan, including issues and findings in the fight against school dropout at the local level and projects intended to respond to them.
In December 2021, the Brussels Government confirmed its financial support for preventing school dropouts.
In 2022, the Brussels Region launched a call for projects to support young people at risk of dropping out of school in vocational education (qualification education): the call aimed at setting up pilot projects for young people aged 15 to 21 enrolled in vocational education and who have dropped out of school. A budget of EUR 300 000 is available for projects starting in 2022 and ending in 2024 at the latest.
In 2023, perspective.brussels continues to the fight against dropping out of school in the Brussels-Capital Region by launching an online library. This resource consolidates a vast collection of academic and institutional literature, regulatory texts, and specialised articles on school engagement. With user-friendly navigation, the library allows the public to easily search by category, author, keywords, publication year, and language, making valuable resources widely accessible.
On 16 May 2024, the Government of the Brussels-Capital Region approved the launch of a new call for projects under the support programme for activities promoting educational support and citizenship among children and youth (DASC) for 2025-27. A total of EUR 1.5 million has been allocated.
Bodies responsible
- perspective.brussels
Target groups
Learners
- Learners in upper secondary, including apprentices
- Young people (15-29 years old)
Thematic categories
Supporting lifelong learning culture and increasing participation
Lifelong learning refers to all learning (formal, non-formal or informal) taking place at all stages in life and resulting in an improvement or update in knowledge, skills, competences and attitudes or in participation in society from a personal, civic, cultural, social or employment-related perspective (Erasmus+, Glossary of terms, https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/programme-guide/part-d/glossary-common-terms). A systemic approach to CVET is crucial to ensure adaptability to evolving demands.
This broad thematic category looks at ways of creating opportunities and ensuring access to re-skilling and upskilling pathways, allowing individuals to progress smoothly in their learning throughout their lives with better permeability between general and vocational education and training, and better integration and compatibility between initial and continuing VET and with higher education. Individuals should be supported in acquiring and updating their skills and competences and navigating easily through education and training systems. Strategies and campaigns that promote VET and LLL as an attractive and high-quality pathway, providing quality lifelong guidance and tailored support to design learning and career paths, and various incentives (financial and non-financial) to attract and support participation in VET and LLL fall into this thematic category as well.
This thematic category also includes many initiatives on making VET inclusive and ensuring equal education and training opportunities for various groups of learners, regardless of their personal and economic background and place of residence – especially those at risk of disadvantage or exclusion, such as persons with disabilities, the low-skilled and low-qualified, minorities, migrants, refugees and others.
This thematic sub-category refers to making VET pathways and programmes inclusive and accessible for all. It concerns measures and targeted actions to increase access and participation in VET and lifelong learning for learners from all vulnerable groups, and to support their school/training-to-work transitions. It includes measures to prevent early leaving from education and training. The thematic sub-category covers measures promoting gender balance in traditionally ‘male’ and ‘female’ professions and addressing gender-related and other stereotypes. The vulnerable groups are, but not limited to: persons with disabilities; the low-qualified/-skilled; minorities; persons of migrant background, including refugees; people with fewer opportunities due to their geographical location and/or their socioeconomically disadvantaged circumstances.
European priorities in VET
VET Recommendation
- VET promoting equality of opportunities
Subsystem
Further reading
Country
Type of development
Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2025). Brussels' initiatives to tackle early school leaving: Belgium-FR. In Cedefop, & ReferNet. (2025). Timeline of VET policies in Europe (2024 update) [Online tool].
https://www.cedefop.europa.eu/en/tools/timeline-vet-policies-europe/search/39417