Population growth in Brussels and inequality of
access to kindergarten
Notes de la rédaction
This is the press release related to the article from auteur, published September the 19th 2011. Read the article.
We are all aware of the challenges that Brussels currently faces in the realm of childcare and educational facilities. The announced baby boom promises to add a new set of problems in a context that was already far from ideal.
In issue 51 of Brussels Studies, Perrine Humblet (ULB) looks at nursery schools. She first gives an update on the saturation of classes for this age level and the wide geographic disparities in the Brussels region regarding access to nursery schools. Despite the creation of many new classes and the high rate of nursery school attendance, the situation is becoming critical and possibilities for new solutions are shrinking at a disquieting rate.
The author then raises the question of the foreseeable impact of the impending classroom shortage. It will likely become more and more difficult to enrol children in nursery school. This is due to saturation but also to new procedures regulating school registration. This context points to an increase in the inequality already experienced by families that are socio-economically disadvantaged: they are less informed of the rules, less aware of the steps to take, and less capable of finding their way through the education jungle. They therefore run the risk that their children will enter school at a later age and also be assigned to schools they would have not chosen had they been free to decide.
When we realise the importance of nursery school in a child's successful schooling, and the importance of this success for the future of the Region's youth, we can truly understand the serious challenge that Brussels is facing.
References
Humblet, Perrine, “Population growth in Brussels and inequality of
access to kindergarten”, Brussels Studies [Online], General collection, No 51, September the 19th 2011. URL: https://journals.openedition.org/brussels/1045
Contact
Benjamin Wayens, Senior Editor: bwayens[at]brusselsstudies.be