Remarkable choice: Minister Ben Weyts (N-VA) appoints his own chief of cabinet as the new top woman of the Education Inspectorate

The Flemish government appointed a successor for Lieven Viaene on Friday. The West Flemish inspector general was honorably discharged by the government earlier this year and is retiring. The new top woman of the Education Inspectorate will be Katrien Bonneux. After a selection procedure carried out by an external agency, two candidates were nominated to the Flemish government. He ultimately chose Bonneux.

Since 2021, Bonneux has been Chief of Cabinet for Education to Flemish Minister of Education Ben Weyts (N-VA). When Weyts’ first chief of staff, Carine Steverlynck, left, Bonneux was a logical choice. She took on the role of coordinator of corona policy in 2020 and thus came into the spotlight.

READ ALSO. The report by Ben Weyts (N-VA): many separate measures, little structural change

Big challenges

According to Weyts, she has “a solid track record in education policy”. She started working at the support policy department of the Department of Education and Training in 2006 and became department head of the Secondary education and student guidance department in 2012. “This is a matter of the right woman in the right place. Major challenges await the Education Inspectorate: reducing the planning burden and improving the quality of education,” said the minister.

READ ALSO. Top executive of the education inspectorate denounces political pressure from Weyts: “Report on air quality in classrooms was not allowed to appear during corona”

The choice for Bonneux is certainly striking. At his farewell, former CEO Lieven Viaene lashed out at Weyts. Viaene found both the minister’s vision and the way he worked to be below standard. For example, communication about certain studies was not allowed and press releases were rewritten. “We are being silenced,” Viaene said.

Concerns about objectivity

Viaene – and many in the education field with him – are concerned about the independence of the inspection. He said: “The inspectorate only has effectiveness if it can function independently of politics and report objectively. If she is used to drive for the minister, she does not have one.”

Politics was also very supportive of the minister’s attitude. This ranged from “creepy and very harmful” (Vooruit) and “independence is crucial” (Open VLD) to “the primacy of politics has gone completely crazy in Flanders. It is detrimental to good governance” (Green).

The fact that a chief of staff is immediately promoted to a top position at the watchdog reinforces those fears. “Where is there any confidence in serious advice from the inspectorate in an independent manner?” says a source from civil society, who wishes to remain anonymous. “This is really a position that you cannot immediately step into as chief of staff.”

It is of course not surprising that people are appointed politically, but it is that they also head the inspectorate. Bonneux’s profile differs significantly from that of her predecessor, Viaene. He came to the inspectorate as general director of a large school group. The choice of Bonneux is in line with an earlier response from Weyts, who sees the inspectorate as one of the top civil servants under him. About Viaene’s criticism, he said: “If he wants to become independent, he can open a shop or a hairdresser’s shop.”

PVDA

• We choose a versatile basic education that is largely common up to the age of 16. We provide smaller classes of a maximum of 15 students until the second year and a maximum of 20 in the following years
• We give starting teachers extra guidance and time to prepare through an ‘induction year’
• We are introducing a maximum invoice for secondary education
• We will reduce the registration fee to 835 euros and freeze it, as in French-speaking Belgium. In the long term we will evolve towards free higher education
• We are reversing the hard cut. We oppose admission tests that select based on social background

GREEN

• Tackling the teacher shortage, including through a starter’s statute for novice teachers
• Guaranteeing quality with a rich offering. In addition to basic skills, there is room for social themes such as citizenship, relationships, sustainability and media literacy
• Every child goes to school for free. Free school materials for every child and cost-covering school allowances for low-income families
• A nutritious, tasty and sustainable school meal for every child. The meal is free for children of parents who have difficulty making ends meet
• Accessible higher education through sufficiently high scholarships and affordable student housing

VLAAMS BELANG

• The introduction of binding language tests in the third kindergarten class. After the existing initial Koala screening, there should also be a real language test in May
• The introduction of a ‘citizenship’ subject that focuses on knowledge of and respect for our European values ​​and standards, as part of the final objectives of primary and secondary education
• The introduction of a maximum invoice in secondary education, depending on the field of study
• A partial cashback of the registration fee at colleges and universities for students who succeed in obtaining their bachelor’s degree within the model route
• A reimbursement of the actual study costs for those who have followed a subsidized higher education in Flanders, but move to a foreign non-EU labor market

OPEN VLD

• Reduce compulsory education to 3 years
• Shorten summer holidays by two weeks, extend autumn and spring holidays by one week
• Flemish plan for Dutch and mathematics in primary education. Language programs and language lessons from nursery school onwards for those who do not speak Dutch
• Wednesday afternoon offerings at schools: sports and culture, but also refresher lessons for those who need them. Philosophical lessons only outside school hours
• Free healthy and hot school meals for underprivileged students

CD&V

• A teacher career pact in education to tackle the teacher shortage
• More side entry supportmers, who are allowed to carry more seniority (20 years)
• We protect freedom of education against all forms of state pedagogy
• More freedom for school boards to use the allocated resources
• The quality of education must be boosted: we expect curricula that include more ambitious goals than the minimum goals

FORWARD

• All beginning teachers should have job security by joining a teacher pool. Lateral entrants must be able to bring with them up to 20 years of seniority
• Compulsory education must be replaced by compulsory schooling, which means that home education is no longer possible. Compulsory education starts at the age of 3
• Schools must focus strongly on knowledge of Dutch. Each student is monitored and, if necessary, remediation takes place. Parents who do not speak Dutch well receive language lessons in daycare centers and schools
• The maximum invoice must also be introduced in secondary education
• The summer holidays should be two weeks shorter. Those two weeks are then added to the spring and autumn holidays. The starting time of the school day should be a little later, in order to improve the sleeping and learning opportunities of young people

N-VA

• We encourage schools to go well beyond the minimum targets. For secondary schools, in addition to the Flemish tests, matters such as progression to and in higher education and opportunities on the labor market must also provide clarity about the output of a school.
• All this freedom and autonomy is offset by more testing of quality via the Flemish tests. In addition to Dutch and mathematics, these will be expanded to as many other domains as possible
• We focus even more on basic knowledge at all ages, such as reading comprehension, grammar and mathematics
• We amend Article 24 of the Constitution so that freedom of education can no longer be an argument when it is objectively established that the quality of education is under great pressure
• We are further expanding the mandatory language test so that everyone who enters our education late must take a language test, after which the necessary guidance is provided