Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
One in five secondary school students in the Flemish region of Belgium indicate that they have already experienced racism at school. This was evident from a large-scale survey conducted by the Flemish Schools Association, which was conducted on more than 10,000 school students. According to Flemish Education Minister Ben Wits of the Flemish Alliance Party, more are being reported because people today are more attentive to what used to be simply ignored.
According to the results published by Belgian media on Monday, less than 70% of the students surveyed did not face any form of racism in high school. Nearly one in five students (18 percent) indicate they have actually experienced racist things. For students with parents from countries outside the European Union, this percentage rises to 49 percent. According to what was published by the newspaper Nieuwsblatt, citing the Belgian News Agency, Laure Slieckx, president of the Flemish Schools Association, said: “These are very high numbers.” “It doesn't have to be that high: school should be a safe and fun environment for all students.”
The Schools Association suggested some ideas. For example, ask that students be allowed to attend a class association. “We know from research that if there is doubt regarding a certificate, young people with a migration background more often get a B certificate than young people without a migration background,” says Slikks. “If students are allowed to sit at the table themselves, the decision-making system becomes more transparent: any bias among teachers can be avoided.”
If it is not possible to include students in the Class Council, Sleeckx requests that a written report of the discussion be prepared and distributed to participating students. “This way, students receive more feedback on how they experience school from the teaching team,” says the head of the schools association.
“Today people are more attentive to what was previously ignored. And so more is being reported, rather than there being more racism among our teachers than ever before or more than anywhere else,” says Flemish Education Minister Ben Wiets. ".
  “I'm open to any conversation, but I'm concerned about mistrust towards teachers and I want every charter school to still have the option to ban signs that indicate religious belief. By the way, this has nothing to do with racism.”