Five years later, this situation is being felt in primary school enrollments. For some parents who told us they encountered fewer difficulties than in other years enrolling their child in primary school in the school of their choice, this is a godsend. But this drop in birth rates could also cause potential class closures if they do not reach the required minimum number of students.
Children from working-class backgrounds will come after others when choosing a school: “It’s intolerable”
A reorganization of schools
The Wallonia-Brussels education network (WBE), which oversees 23 basic schools of official education in Brussels, notes “for several years, a drop in the figures of the school population in Brussels, due to the decline in birth rates, in particular“. The spokesperson for the official network confirms that the reduction in the number of students enrolled in Brussels schools will have an impact on the organization of schools.”This decline in population is even more important in nursery school and is then felt in primary school, sometimes forcing our schools to reorganize or even reduce their number of classes.“
A situation for which WBE feels helpless, as its spokesperson says. “This phenomenon unfortunately occurs independently of the motivation, investment and all the projects of our educational teams.“
A decrease in the school population
The Brussels Institute for Statistics and Analysis (IBSA) estimates that the population in Brussels primary schools will decrease by more than 7,000 children by 2029. This will naturally have consequences on the number of teachers needed in primary schools. classes. A study published in December by the UNamur Regional Economy and Economic Policy Research Center (Cerpe) attempted to anticipate the evolution of the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) teachers in French-speaking education until in 2029, taking into account, in particular, demographic developments. The researchers projected a loss of 1,765 ordinary primary education teachers in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation during the period studied.
gullThe global economic, ecological and geopolitical context pushes some parents to want fewer children than before
Why we are still having fewer children in Belgium and Europe: “Compared to other projects in life, this is losing importance”
Less desire for children
The phenomenon of declining birth rates which affects Belgium and more particularly Brussels can be explained by the overall economic, ecological and geopolitical context, as explained by Jean-Pierre Hermia, demographer at IBSA. “The global context pushes some parents to want fewer children than before. The drop in birth rates does not come from a reduction in the number of mothers, but rather from a drop in the fertility. In other words, the number of children per mother“, he explains.
To explain the fact that the birth rate is more pronounced in Brussels than elsewhere, Jean-Pierre Hermia puts forward the hypothesis of a relocation of certain inhabitants towards the periphery. “Before, people in Brussels left the city to settle in the outskirts after having their first child. Now some parents move before having children.“An observation which is, according to him, not to be linked to a post-Covid effect.
