There are major differences between schools and between regions in Flanders, according to the results of the language screening that was organized for the third time this school year in every third kindergarten class.
Between Tuesday, October 10 and Thursday, November 30, 2023, the language screening, the Koala test, was organized in every third kindergarten class, i.e. for children born in 2018. This year, for the first time, schools could use a free digital version of the language screening and half of kindergartens have done so. If the screening shows that there is a language delay, children can still receive additional training before they start primary school, says Weyts.
85 percent of current toddlers in the third grade ended up in the green zone during the language screening and therefore have sufficient language skills, about 11 percent were in the orange zone, which requires extra language support, and about 4 percent ended up in the red zone. zone, which indicates that intensive language guidance is still needed. This is evident from the data that Weyts’ services collected from a representative sample of 294 kindergartens, where together approximately 9,000 children took the Koala test.
The figures are very similar to the figures from the two previous school years, when 15 percent (2021-2022) and 14 percent (2022-2023) also appeared to need extra language support.
In schools with many children with a different home language, the share of children who need intensive Dutch guidance is twice as high (8 percent) and there are also many more children who need extra support (19 percent).
Big cities
Also in big cities there are always more children who need extra language support. In the city of Antwerp this concerns 27 percent of the children (19 percent extra support and 8 percent intensive guidance). In the Brussels Capital Region even 38 percent of children (22 percent extra support and 16 percent intensive guidance). In other Flemish central cities, the average is very close to the Flemish average: 12 percent need extra support and 4 percent intensive guidance.
There are separate figures for the Flemish Rand: 16 percent need extra support and 6 percent require intensive guidance. Among the provinces, West Flanders scores best, with only 6 percent of children needing extra support and 2 percent needing intensive guidance in Dutch. In the province of Antwerp, 11.5 percent need extra support and 4.5 percent intensive guidance.
Extra budget
Weyts is allocating the necessary resources to take on the challenge. An additional budget of 12 million euros per year is associated with the language screening, with which the nursery schools can additionally focus on language support. “In addition, from this school year, all schools where half of the students (or even more) have a different home language will receive an extra 20 million euros per year to focus on more Dutch. In this way, more than 500 schools with the highest needs spread across Flanders and Brussels can attract additional staff, organize more Dutch lessons or, for example, collaborate with guidance services or other organizations.”
