There are several organisational variations and
alternative structures.
A. ‘Flexitime’
courses
Certain higher education programmes can be scheduled late in the day. In this
case, the curriculum spans an increased number of years and is comparable to
ordinary full-day programmes for the same studies. These flexitime programmes
are part of full-time education.
The diploma earned upon completion of a flexitime programme has the same value
as one earned for the corresponding full-day course. Currently, the principal
flexitime programmes are long-type higher education programmes in the economics
category, in particular those offered by business schools.
In short-type higher education, flexitime education is still limited (e.g.
training for social workers).
In university education, certain second-cycle courses, generally in the
political science, administrative science, economics, and social science areas
are also offered as flexitime programmes.
B. Social
advancement education
Education for social advancement is designed not only for people who wish to
complete their education, but also to those who are seeking retraining in
another field
Short-type higher education courses (agriculture, economics, paramedical,
educational, social, technical) are also provided as social advancement
education. Long-type education programmes in industrial chemistry, electricity,
electromechanics, and electronics are also offered.
The provisions of the ‘
C. National
defence department
Military training, with its specific characteristics, remains under federal
jurisdiction and is administered by the Ministry of National Defence. The same
applies to the university and post-university military training courses
provided by the Institut Royal Supérieur de
All courses are free of charge. However, those students who succeed must serve
in the army for a minimum period equal to at least one and a half times the
length of the course. All higher-level courses provided in the army or under
the army’s authority are limited to career officer candidates. From the first day
of the course, students receive a salary according to their rank. In addition
to scientific training, each student receives military training, which is
scheduled during part of the academic holidays.
The École Royale Militairehas a ‘polytechnic’ division
where officer candidates receive a 5 year civil engineering education and a
‘all arms’ division, which trains officers with a master credential in 4 years.
An entrance exam is held before admission.
A certain number of applicant officers take full-time courses at industrial
higher education schools, the École Supérieure de Navigationin
The Institut Royal Supérieur de
The École des Administrateurs Militairesis a military higher education
institute, which provides a two-year training course for officers who will
handle problems of a legal, budgetary, and administrative nature.
Advanced training is offered at all levels, both in armed forces schools and in
civilian institutes in
The École Royale Militaireand the École
Royale de
D.
Distance learning
Distance learning is not authorised to confer diplomas, but may issue
attendance certificates. To obtain a diploma, students must sit for an exam
administered by a board of examiners of the French Community (see below).
E. Boards of
Examiners of the French Community
The system of boards of examiners of the French Community operated by the
Ministry of Education, Research and Training is an alternative exam scheme
enabling students to obtain a diploma outside the traditional channels provided
in schools.
These exams are intended predominantly for self-taught individuals or those who
abandoned their studies and do not wish to resume them; or those who are unable
to enrol in an institute because they have exhausted the number of failures
authorised by the applicable decrees or regulations. Of course, these exams
require serious personal preparation since the candidate is left to his or her
own devices. Nevertheless, there are preparation options available in public
schools, private schools, or via distance learning
In non-university higher education, the following diplomas can be obtained via
a board of examiners of the French Community:
A call for candidates is published each year in
the Belgian Official Gazette. The registration fee is set at € 99.00.
The degrees of bachelor and master of architecture can be awarded by a specific
examination board. The bachelor degree can only be awarded at least 3 years
after the applicant has satisfied the admission conditions for the first cycle
of university-level education, and the master degree at least 2 years after
obtaining the degree of bachelor of architecture.
In university-level higher education, all first and second cycle university
course exams for basic studies can be taken under the auspices of the board of
examiners of the French Community. The boards of examiners are completely
decentralised and are situated at each university institution’s site. The
registration fee is set at € 322.26.
Diplomas obtained by taking board exams have the same value as those issued by
institutions that teach courses at the same level.
F. Open faculties
The formula known as ‘open faculties’ gave rise to various experiments
undertaken by several educational institutions.
The originality of these studies resides essentially their accessibility to
people that have not necessarily followed an ‘ordinary’ schooling path and
hence do not always have the qualifications required in order to enrol. Moreover,
enrolment is essentially on the basis of personal dossiers and interviews.
Their prime objective is to offer adults that are engaged in a professional
life, training that is not given in programmes organised in the framework of
full-time education.
Several initiatives are worth mentioning:
The Charleroi University Centre ( Centre Universitaire de
Charleroi - CUNIC), centred essentially on the
Every year, several hautes écoles
offer access to postsecondary studies (essentially in the social domain) to
some students that do not have an upper secondary education certificate (CESS).
This is notably the case for the École Ouvrière Supérieure – EOS,
and the social department of the Haute École Libre de Bruxelles
Ilya Prigogine.
Institutions:
Avenue
Tel.:(32) (0)2/742.60.11
Service de la sanction des études, des jurys et de la règlementation
Bâtiment Les Ateliers - rue Adolphe Lavallée,
1 - 1000 BRUXELLES
Tel.:(32) (0)2/690.85.08
Fax:(32) (0)2/690.85.76
Service général de l'Enseignement de promotion sociale, de
l'enseignement artistique à horaire réduit et de l'Enseignement à distance
(AGERS)
Bâtiment Les Ateliers - rue Adolphe Lavallée,
1 - 1080 BRUXELLES
Tel.:(32) (0)2/690.87.31
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