Summary
Basic education includes:
- nursery education (kindergarten) for children who are between 3 and 5 years old or reach this age by the 31st December of the current school year,
- primary education for children who are between 6 an 11 years old or reach this age by the 31st December of the current school year.
Kindergarten is usually attended for three school years and primary school for six school years.
From September 1, 2024, children who have reached the age of two and a half can also attend kindergarten on the following entry dates
- on the first school day after the school vacations (All Saints' Day vacations, Christmas vacations, Carnival vacations, Easter vacations)
- on the first school day of February
- on the first school day after Ascension Day
In Belgium, compulsory education starts at the age of 5. This means that children who reach the age of 5 by the 31st December must attend kindergarten from 1 September of that year on an obligatory basis.
You are free to enrol your minor child in a school of your choice subsidised or organised by the German-speaking Community, provided that you accept the educational project and the school regulations and your child meets the admission requirements to the respective school level.
In basic education, the enrolment of pupils on compulsory education takes place at the latest on the last working day before the start of the school year.
Basic education institutions organised by towns and municipalities are obliged to enrol any pupil who requests so if he or she is domiciled in the territory of the municipality or if the school is the nearest municipal school to the pupil's home.
In detail
Parents