BELGIUM - In the documentary Exit Concentration, Luk Dewulf and Inge Wagemakers shed light on the Flemish educational landscape and give us a glimpse behind the scenes of the much-discussed but little-known concentration schools.
Flemish education is known for delivering top level pupils. At the same time, we excel in inequality. It is striking that migrant pupils score significantly worse than their native peers. Nowhere in the industrialised world is the gap between migrant and native pupils as wide as in Flanders. Many efforts have already been made to make our education more 'immigrant-friendly', but without much success.
We have an education system characterised by segregation. In few other countries you can find an almost completely 'white' school on one side of the street and an almost completely 'black' school on the other. But are our so-called concentration schools the problem? Do they determine the poor school results of immigrant pupils? Why do parents run away from these schools? Would a better social mix work?
This report was awarded the Belfius Press Award category local press.
TELEVISON
- Exit Concentratie, AVS Oost-Vlaamse Televisie (Belgian regional broadcaster), 1/05/2012.
