Education: childcare places, school dropout and Cocof/VGC tensions

RPD commitments

The Regional Policy Declaration addresses education and training from the perspective of regional and community competences exercised in Brussels:

Early childhood

• Creating childcare places — investment plan to increase capacity, coordinated with ONE (FWB) and Opgroeien (Flemish Community)
• Financial accessibility — maintaining and strengthening regional subsidies for childcare facilities

School dropout

• Anti-dropout action plan — coordination between Region, Cocof, VGC and both Communities
• Actiris Jeunes — integration measures for young people leaving school without a diploma
• Vocational education — strengthening technical and professional streams, aligned with Brussels labour market needs

Bilingualism and coordination

• Promoting FR/NL bilingualism — in schools and vocational training
• Cocof/VGC coordination — harmonising French-speaking and Dutch-speaking education policies in Brussels
• School mobility — transport and accessibility of schools across the 19 municipalities

Education governance in Brussels

Education in Brussels falls primarily under the Communities (FWB and Flemish Community), but the Region intervenes through:

• Cocof — transferred competences in French-speaking education (continuing education, lifelong learning)
• VGC — Dutch-speaking competences in education, culture and welfare. Approximately 100,000 students (from kindergarten to adults) attend Dutch-language education in Brussels daily, representing over 20% of Brussels children. The VGC manages the former provincial Dutch-language schools (since 1995) and subsidises school capacity expansion. Recent example: EUR 450,000 investment in a new campus for the Atheneum Brussel (360 to 510 places, construction starting February 2026)
• Actiris / Bruxelles Formation / VDAB Brussel — vocational training and youth integration. VDAB Brussel operates a training centre in Sint-Joost-ten-Noode, targeting Dutch-speaking and allophone jobseekers (retail, healthcare, administration, Dutch as a second language)

BOA: transition to VGC (September 2026)

The BOA decree (Buitenschoolse Opvang en Activiteiten — out-of-school care and activities) has been in force since 2021, with a transition phase running until August 2026. From September 2026, the VGC will assume full management of Dutch-speaking out-of-school care in Brussels: policy, local accreditation framework, budget allocation and partner coordination. The old quality label for childcare facilities will be discontinued in favour of the new VGC framework.

DPC Commitments (COCOF, 23 February 2026)

The Community Policy Declaration (DPC) of COCOF, presented to the Francophone Brussels Parliament on 23 February 2026, includes several education commitments:

• Tackling school dropout — stated priority, in coordination with FWB and the Region
• Vocational training — strengthening through Bruxelles Formation (overseen by Boris Dilliès, MR)
• Increasing childcare places — investment in coordination with ONE (childcare overseen by Karine Lalieux, PS)
• BX1 subtitling — in Dutch, English and for accessibility (education/media measure)

The split of Employment (Hublet, Les Engages) and Training (Dilliès, MR) competences between two different COCOF ministers is a concern raised by the opposition.

Sources and methodology

The commitments documented above come from the official RPD text and corroborating press sources covering the government agreement of 12 February 2026. Indicators (childcare coverage, dropout) come from ONE, Opgroeien, IBSA and Eurostat.