What should parents in Flanders do with the new list of 30 ‘inspiratiescholen’?
For international families choosing a primary school in Vlaanderen, the practical takeaway is simple: treat the 30 Flemish ‘inspiratiescholen’ as a starting point for questions, not as a league table. The schools highlighted by VRT NWS are presented as examples other basisscholen can learn from, but parents should still check the official ScholenKompas dashboard, the school’s inspection report, the gemeente or commune enrolment rules, the language support on offer and the daily logistics before making a choice.
School choice in Flanders is high-stakes because many families must decide months before the school year starts, often through local online registration systems run by a gemeente, city or LOP area. A school praised as an inspiratieschool may be attractive, but admission can still depend on capacity, priority rules and timing. For non-Dutch-speaking families, the bigger question is not only ‘is this a good school?’ but ‘can my child thrive in Dutch-medium education, and what support will the school offer?’
The subject is Flemish primary education and school choice. VRT NWS reported on 30 ‘inspiratiescholen’ in Vlaanderen: primary schools identified as examples that kunnen een voorbeeld moeten zijn voor andere basisscholen. For parents, especially expats and internationally mobile families, the label is useful because it points to schools whose practice may be worth studying. It does not replace the formal Flemish education system: recognised Dutch-language schools remain overseen by the Vlaams Ministerie van Onderwijs en Vorming, places are governed by enrolment rules, and quality information should be checked through official tools such as ScholenKompas and Onderwijsinspectie reports.
Background
Belgian education is organised by language community, not by the federal state. In Vlaanderen, schools may belong to different networks, including GO! onderwijs van de Vlaamse Gemeenschap, municipal or provincial education, and subsidised free education, often Catholic. Parents have free school choice, but that right operates within capacity limits and enrolment procedures. The current interest in examples of strong practice also fits a wider Flemish debate about declining basic skills, Dutch-language proficiency, maths, reading comprehension and how schools can learn from one another without reducing education to rankings.
Impact
Regional — The impact is mainly Flemish. Families in Antwerp, Ghent, Leuven, Mechelen, Hasselt, Bruges or smaller gemeenten can use the list as a prompt to compare local schools, but Dutch-language schools in Brussels also sit in the Flemish Community system and should be assessed through the same broad lens: language, inspection, commuting, after-school care and enrolment deadlines.
Opposing perspectives
- International parents choosing a school
Many expat parents will welcome a curated list because the Flemish system can be hard to read from the outside. A label such as inspiratieschool gives families a first clue about schools with practices worth examining. Their concern is practical: whether the school has places, communicates clearly with non-Dutch-speaking parents, offers after-school care, and can support a child who is learning Dutch.
- School leaders and teachers
School teams may see the list as recognition of professional work and a way to share methods with other basisscholen. At the same time, they may be wary of parents treating it as a ranking. A strong practice in one context may depend on staff stability, pupil mix, local support or a particular pedagogical project that cannot simply be copied elsewhere.
- Education researchers and inspectors
Researchers and inspectors generally prefer multiple indicators over reputation alone. They would point parents toward inspection reports, pupil progression, language support, school climate and comparable-school data. Their caution is that a single public label can simplify a complex quality picture, especially when schools serve very different neighbourhoods and pupil populations.