Memorandum for the next Flemish government 2014-2019 (01/23/2014)

This Memorandum is a recommendation at own initiative, prepared by the General Council of the Vlor with input from all sub-Councils and commissions.

In this Memorandum, the Vlor presents its vision on the important challenges for education policy for the next government 2014-2019. The Memorandum has been written for all political parties, and in particular for the negotiators who discuss the agenda of the next government. The memorandum expresses the common viewpoints of all the stakeholders represented in the Vlor. The memorandum thus contains the common expectations and questions of the whole educational field.

In summary, these are the recommendations: • The ‘Bildung’ mission of education and the perspective of the learner are key in education policy. Invest in education as a public good; • Take care of quality, coherence and participativeness of policy; • Start from trust in the education institutions and guarantee the pedagogical freedom and autonomy; • Pay priority attention to quality infrastructure and capacity; • Foresee effective support for teachers, school leaders, teams of teachers, education institutions in order to attract to education experts with a passion for education; • Continue, with open mind and with all stakeholders, the debate on the mission and outcomes of education; • Create a clear and stable framework in order to guarantee for each learner good care at the right moment and at the right place; • Conduct an active qualification policy: youngsters should leave school with a broad set of competences and skills that allow them to stay active in society for their whole life; keep them on board in compulsory education, and foresee second chances; • Create a clear and stable framewok in order to optimize diversity in education as a source of learning, starting from an comprehensive vision on equal opportunities; • Give education institutions adequate support to optimize growing digitalization in the learning process; • Enhance the international dimension of education by stimulating mobility of learners, a.o. through language regulations and recognition of degrees from abroad; • Minimize the risk of legal disputes thanks to clear legislation and security for users and education providers.

All the partners in the Vlor have also established more detailed thematic fiches.