Will Brussels City keep primary-school supplies free despite French Community savings?

The issue arose when the government of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles

Organisation

Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles

French-speaking community authority that regulates and funds French-speaking education.

Why it matters

French-speaking community authority that regulates and funds French-speaking education.

About

In Belgium, the French Community refers to one of the three constituent constitutional linguistic communities. Since 2011, the French minority has used the name Wallonia-Brussels Federation, which is controversial because its name in the Belgian Constitution has not changed and because it is seen as a political statement. The name "French Community" refers to the French language and not to France.

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Municipal representatives and opposition parties warned that reducing earmarked grants could transfer costs to school organisers or families. Brussels City’s answer was to preserve its universal municipal kit rather than ask individual schools to identify which children could afford stationery. Hariche’s council statement was a political and budgetary commitment, however, not a guarantee that every education-related charge would disappear indefinitely.

The framework has continued to evolve since that initial dispute. A French Community parliamentary text adopted in 2026 provides that, during the 2026-2027 transition, organising authorities receiving operating funding must make the learning materials required by the curriculum available free through the fifth year of ordinary primary school. Sixth-year pupils are temporarily outside that expanded obligation, with full primary coverage planned from 2027-2028. Brussels City’s broader kit policy is consequently most significant where it goes beyond the minimum transitional duty or gives families one predictable package rather than a school-by-school arrangement.

Brussels City runs both French-speaking and Dutch-speaking schools, but their rules and admissions systems are not interchangeable. French-speaking municipal schools operate under the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles framework; Dutch-speaking schools follow Flemish Community rules and use the Brussels Dutch-language enrolment system. The City’s published kit figures come from its Instruction publique material concerning its French-speaking primary provision.

Parents considering a Dutch-language school should consult Inschrijven in Brussel and the school’s kostenregeling. Families choosing a French-language municipal school should use the City’s Instruction publique school directory and ask the secretariat for the current liste des frais. Neither the family’s home language nor nationality automatically determines the school system, although admission capacity, application procedures and priority rules can affect the available choice.

A useful three-step check is to identify the organising authority named on the school website, request the written cost estimate for the relevant year, and ask which objects must be supplied from home. Parents should specifically clarify meals, garderie or opvang, swimming, day trips, residential classes, sports clothing and replacement charges. The federal Belgium.be portal explains Belgium’s division of education powers, but the operational answer will normally come from the relevant community portal, municipal education department or school itself.

Families living in or attending school in the City’s territory — postcodes 1000, 1020, 1120 and 1130 — can also contact Nota Bene, the free municipal guidance service. It helps young people and parents understand enrolment, school pathways and the French-speaking system, with local offices including Rue de la Serrure/Grendelstraat in the centre, Rue de Moorslede/Moorsledestraat in Laeken and Avenue de Versailles/Versailleslaan in Neder-Over-Heembeek.

The broader lesson is that “free education” in Belgium rests on several overlapping layers. The communities set the education rules and distribute much of the funding; communes can organise schools and add local support; individual establishments explain which optional costs remain. Brussels City’s decision cushions families in its own network, but it cannot settle costs across all Brussels schools.

For the coming school year, parents should watch the kit notice issued by their own school rather than assume that a previous year’s contents will be identical. The City has publicly promised continuity, while the French Community’s transition changes the legal baseline through 2026-2027. What remains unknown is the final annual municipal cost, the exact contents of each level’s package and whether future budget pressure will alter ancillary benefits such as meals or activities.