As the 2024 regional, federal and European elections approach, Unia (the Interfederal Centre for Equal Opportunities), has put forward a series of critical recommendations aimed at reshaping the educational landscape in Belgium that focus on fighting discrimination and promoting diversity and inclusion within Belgian schools.

The Diversity Barometer in Education (Unia, 2018) revealed that teachers are committed to reducing inequalities in education but lack the necessary tools to address diverse student populations. Thus, through its recommendations Unia first stresses the need to better support teachers to effectively manage the diversity present within schools and develop relationships with parents. This support can be offered through suitable training that relies on collective analyses of practices, and will enable them to decode and counter unconscious biases, implicit expectations, and stereotypes which may influence assessment and orientation decisions.

Unia next urges authorities to enhance reporting mechanisms for instances of discrimination or harassment, and to swiftly address all forms of discrimination within educational settings that is based on race, origin, sexual orientation, disability, or physical traits. The authorities are initiating a new programme to combat bullying, including cyberbullying in schools. From 2023, schools will receive support for a multi-year plan aimed at prevention and improving the school environment, with the School Climate Observatory set up to monitor and provide necessary tools. It also includes standardised frameworks for schools and accreditation for supporting operators.

Unia also emphasises the need for proper resources to ensure schools understand their responsibilities in combating harassment and discrimination. This includes implementing suitable monitoring, intervention, and prevention measures to support all students, especially the most vulnerable (such as LGBTI+ students, those with disabilities, and those from Romani families) and ensuring their inclusion. This effort requires mobilising and training all education practitioners and coordinating their actions. Unia also recommends reinforcing legal frameworks and developing coherent strategies in collaboration with involved parties, in order to ensure equal protection for all students.

Moreover, the recommendations highlight the importance of collecting higher-quality data to analyse the evolving mechanisms of segregation, exclusion, discrimination, and the perpetuation of inequalities within the education system. These data, Unia says, should include variables related to gender and socio-economic status and take the paths of students with disabilities into consideration. Furthermore, it notes it is important to gain deeper insights into the experiences of specific target groups such as LGBTI+ students and children from Romani and traveler families, for which specific anti-discrimination measures should be taken. Unia strongly recommends that authorities intensify data collection and intersectional analyses across all types of education.