Belgium's Flemish government introduced a language test for Dutch-speaking preschools, to be taken during pupils' third and final year. Named the Koala test, and created by the Centre for Language Education of the Catholic University of Leuven (KUL), the test will be conducted yearly between 10 October and 30 November. Children will be asked by their teachers to enact seven different tasks from different spheres of everyday life, with the aim of identifying those children experiencing difficulty with understanding Dutch. These children will then be further monitored in order to ensure that any issues are resolved. If gaps in understanding remain after a certain amount of time, the class council would be able to suggest that the parents keep their child in preschool for longer. If this does not happen, the child in question will be required to follow a linguistic integration course during their first year of primary school.

For Ben Weyts, Vice Minister-President of Education, this test presents the opportunity to intervene as soon as possible in a child's language competences and overall progress: “children who don't know enough Dutch, they don't have equal opportunities. You have to make sure that they can leave [preschool] equally”, he said in an interview. He also stated that “[the] introduction of language screening is a social measure par excellence and is most beneficial to the socio-economically weaker children; those children whose home language is other than Dutch. For them, this is the most appropriate and therefore the best approach”.

The Koala test raises the issue of the accessibility of Dutch-speaking schools in Brussels. While 55% of places at these schools are already reserved for children with at least one Dutch-speaking parent, the implementation of the test may further complicate accessibility for French-speaking families, and for children with an immigrant background. The measure is part of the 2019 - 2024 government agreement negotiated between political parties Open VLD, NVA and CD&V. Among other measures, the agreement provides for the promotion of Flemish identity through the promotion of Flemish culture and history (particularly in education), the implementation of a new paying civic integration programme, and the restriction of access to social welfare for newcomers. Further information about new rules on the integration of migrants can be found here.