Belgium – the French Community

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Notes

1. For a detailed explanation of Belgium’s complex institutional landscape, see Husson, Mahieu, and Sägesser (2017).

2. An English translation of the Belgian Constitution is available on the website of the Constitutional Court of Belgium: https://www.const-court.be/en/basic_text/belgian_constitution.pdf (consulted on 28 May 2017).

3. The French-Community has decided to call itself Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles (Federation of Wallonia and Brussels). However, we prefer to retain here the official terms of the Constitution. Additionally, the new appelation mistakingly implies that the Community would be competent over the territory of Wallonia as a whole, which isn’t true since the German-speaking part of Wallonia constitutes the German-speaking Community (Deutschsprachige Gemeinschaft-DG). This new appelation is also not consistent with the fact that the Flemish Community is competent in Brussels as well.

4. Most of them belong to the the FELSI (Fédération des Etablissements Libres Subventionnés Indépendants – Federation of free independant state-subsidised schools): https://felsi.eu.

5. Catholic schools are represented by the SEGEC (Secrétariat général de l’enseignement catholiqu General Secretariat for Catholic Education). The SEGEC and his director are key actors in the world of education, and they are frequently consulted by policy-makers.

6. Certificat d’université en Didactique du cours de religion islamique. (University Certificate in Didactics of the Islamic Religion Course) https://uclouvain.be/fr/etudier/iufc/didactique-du-cours-de-religion-islamique.html (consulted on 28 May 2017).

7. At the initiative of the federal government, from September 2009 to September 2010, the Assises de l'Interculturalité were given the task of drawing up an inventory of diversity management in Belgium, identifying problems and, ultimately, suggesting ways to solve these difficulties.

8. Marie-Dominique Simonet, like her successors Joëlle Milquet and Marie-Martine Schyns who have occupied teh position since, is a member of the Centre démocrate humaniste (CdH), a centrist party born out of the old social-christian party (PSC). The CdH is generally considered closer to the Catholic schools network. The fact that the reform has been implemented by ministers from this political tendency probably influenced the content of the reform and most certainly influenced the negative way in which it has been received by many people closer to ‘secular humanism’.

9. Cour Constitutionnelle, arrêt du 12 mars 2015 (n° 34/2015).

10. Décret du 22 octobre 2015 relatif à l’organisation d’un cours et d’une éducation à la philosophie et à la citoyenneté (Decree of 22 October 2015 on the organisation of a course and an education in philosophy and citizenship), Moniteur Belge, 9 décembre 2015.

11. They are available on-line: https://www.enseignement.be/index.php?page=27915&navi=4429 (consulted on 28 May 2017).

12. A specific website has been set-up to promote the generalisation of 2 h per week of education in philosophy and citizenship https://deuxheurescestmieux.be (consulted on 28 May 2017).