Primary School Instruction Medium

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

The teaching language in state schools in Belgium is either Dutch, French or German (basically depends on which region you live in).  International schools do offer Engish language education (many follow the UK syllabus), but they are extremely expensive.

Our own experience was that our kids experienced no problems in switching to another language at that age; it helped them make friends and integrate into the local community.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

Plenty of useful discussions here:

https://www.expat.com/forum/256-6-study-in-belgium.html

Hi
We will be moving to Antwerp soon and my son is studying in year 9 in an Uk school. Will it be ok to switch him to local school when we move to Antwerp? Also do we pay university fee like international student while we are on dependent visa?

Thank you,

Hi and welcome to the Forum.

I'm assuming your son is 13 years old.  State schools in Belgium teach in either Dutch, French or German, depending on where you live; the official language in Antwerp is Flemish (Dutch), so that will be the language used in the school.  You can send your son to an International school where they teach in Engish, but these are very expensive;  Google will help you find them.

My own opinion is that the State schools may be problematic as he will have to learn the local language up to the same level as the local kids while at the same time try and learn the core syllabus subjects to a sufficient level to get into University.

As for fees; I don't know; probably best to contact the Universities directly and ask for an authoritative answer; just bear in mind that you're looking at 5 years into the future and the rules then may not be the same as today.

Hope this helps.

Cynic
Expat Team

Thank you
Cannot afford private english schools as they are very expensive.

Violetkm wrote:

Thank you
Cannot afford private english schools as they are very expensive.

Hello,

Like any parent, you worry about the well-being of your children. The language barrier is more of a psychological blockage of adults than of children.

Of course it will be difficult at first. But you will see that in less than two months he will speak and manage without problem. Unlike you who will take a lot of time ...

You come to a country that speak other languages of yours. This is a fantastic chance for your child. Let it open to the world.

The only thing you absolutely must do is motivate him. But especially not to complain because his results have dropped. Give him time and his school results will go up without problem.

My children (14 and 5 years) speak French-Portuguese-English ...

There are no state schools in Belgium, wrong terminology.

Schools are public or private, the public ones are language community funded.  Belgium is a kingdom.  Schooling is devolved to language communities.

Hi
Did you move when the kids were young?