This is the end of the saga, at least temporarily. Around 6:30 this morning, the deputies of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation adopted the modifications to the landscape decree. The vote took place without surprise, in accordance with that which had already taken place a week ago in committee. The text tabled by the Socialist and Ecolo Party was voted with the support of the PTB, while the MR and the Engagés voted against. This vote in the early hours marks the conclusion of a long night of debates which resembled parliamentary trench warfare. The MR and the Engaged asked forin consultation with the Council of State. The PS, Ecolo and the PTB could not oppose it but decided to proceed to the vote anyway, the regulations allowing it. The Reform Movement then demanded a second reading, which took place in plenary session to avoid having to convene a commission again. What followed a debate on the budgetary cost of reform. Françoise Bertieaux, Minister of Higher Education, hostile to the reform, estimated the cost of the proposed adaptations at around 100 million euros. The Committed then asked that the corresponding means be released and that their origin be specified. Suspensions of sessions, confabulations, obstructionist maneuvers on one side, and what could be considered as a forced passage on the other, took place. To each obstacle raised by opponents of the new decree, the PS, Ecolo and the PTB responded with a vote overriding the objections.
What to remember from this restless night? Firstly that the rules will change, which is probably the most important thing for students. Students who started their studies before the reform of the landscape decree in 2022, those in bac 1 having acquired at least 45 credits (and no longer 60) and those reorienting following a failure benefit from an additional year to continue their course. How many students does this affect? Several hundred surely, probably several thousand. See more ? We don’t really know at this point. We can still be surprised by the speeches sometimes affirming that this only concerns a few students, and then at other times that the budgetary impact is colossal, 100 million is not nothing. Some FEF activists even claimed that the landscape decree was above all a budgetary decree, tightening financing conditions and making savings at the expense of students.
Behind this political debate lie in reality two visions of what the student condition should be, the priority that students must give to their studies, their ability to invest in them while a majority of them are forced to work at the same time to finance their studies, their accommodation, their food, their fees , etc. On the one hand, there isthe vision of teachers believing that priority must be given to studies, that it is always possible to miss a year but not to miss three in a row, nor to postpone exams indefinitely from one year to the next. It was necessary to limit the duration of studies. A massive argument from teachers, since the implementation of the new landscape decree, carried by Valérie Glatigny, the success rate in exams has improved. The risk of being declared unfundable, of being excluded from studies, encouraged students to study more, which was beneficial for everyone. On the other side, there is the vision of the FEF, believing that many students have no choice, that they must reconcile work and studies, and that putting such pressure on them amounts to excluding the students who are most in difficulty. This would lead to elitist education, where only those with family support could succeed in their studies.
These two visions, which divided the university community, found themselves in parliament. The MR adopted the vision of the stick, defended by a large majority of teachers, while the PS, Ecolo and the PTB lined up behind the vision of the FEF, favoring the carrot and remedial sessions. It should be noted that the new decree adopted last night is not valid only for the next school year. The students therefore obtained a reprieve, but temporary. This debate will therefore return during the next legislature. We can even announce now that he will be part of the negotiations as part of a government agreement after the elections on June 9.
In final detail, the text has been voted on and must be promulgated, with possible implementing orders. It should be noted that the presidency and the portfolio of Higher Education are in the hands of the Reform Movement. The mass may not yet be said, but it would be healthy for the soap opera to end. The elections will take place in 45 days, around the same time as the student exams. It would be good if the two calendars stopped colliding and students were allowed to concentrate on the essential: their exams.
