Code orange for higher education in Flanders by the autumn break

Higher education in Flanders will switch to code orange by the autumn break at the latest, with extra consideration for first-year students. The capacity utilisation rate in auditoria will be considerably reduced, and educational institutions will offer study places for students who commute that are as safe as possible. So said Flemish Minister of Education Ben Weyts after consultation with the universities and colleges of higher education. Institutions are free to take stricter measures. “Higher education can give priority to first-year students,” says Ben Weyts. “Don’t let this vulnerable group become lonely behind a screen at home or in student accommodation.”

Flemish Minister of Education Ben Weyts has reached an agreement with the Flemish Interuniversity Council (VLIR) and the Flemish Council of Universities of Applied Sciences and Arts (VLHORA), the bodies representing all institutions of higher education. Ben Weyts has also coordinated this with his colleague Valérie Glatigny, responsible for higher education in French-speaking Belgium.

Code orange by the autumn break at the latest

Higher education in Flanders will switch to code orange as soon as possible and at the latest by the start of the autumn break. Individual institutions can still take stricter measures based on their own local risk assessment. In code orange, the capacity utilisation rate of the auditoria and the presence of students on campus is limited further. Sports and cultural activities are suspended, and the presence of non-essential third parties on campus is limited. Teaching in small groups, practicals and lab exercises are still possible. Internships can proceed according to the protocols that apply at the location of the internship.

Institutions of higher education will also give consideration to safe study places for students who commute. Social student zones can only be used as safely organised study areas.

Extra consideration for first-year students

In this code orange, there will however be extra consideration for first-year students. The general rule remains that the capacity utilisation rate of the auditoriums is reduced to one in five, but this does not apply to courses of the model trajectories for the first year, where a capacity utilisation rate of one in two is still possible with face masks. “Every university and college must now focus on the first-year students,” Ben Weyts says. “These young students have so far only received a little face-to-face education, they have not yet been able to build up a social network, and they are still not too familiar with how higher education works. The first-year students who were hit hard by the suspension of classes last academic year at least already had a large part of their year and also the first series of exams behind them. We are very concerned about the first-year students who have just started now.”