CE1D and CESS Exams Cancelled in Liège as Teacher Protests Escalate

Thousands of secondary school students in Belgium’s Liège province and parts of Brussels will not sit their scheduled CE1D and CESS certificative exams, after teacher protests against education reforms and austerity measures forced widespread cancellations. The Province of Liège, the City of Liège, and approximately 50 schools across the region have abandoned the external examinations, which were set to begin on Friday, June 19, according to RTBF.

Background: A System in Crisis

The cancellations are the latest escalation in a months-long conflict between teachers and the government of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles over a “décret-programme” — a package of education reforms and austerity measures passed by the regional parliament in early June. Teachers argue the reforms were rushed through without proper consultation, a claim supported by eight constitutional scholars who denounced the process as a “frontal violation” of parliamentary rules.

The CE1D (Certificat d’Enseignement Secondaire du premier Degré) is awarded at the end of the second year of secondary school, while the CESS (Certificat d’Enseignement Secondaire Supérieur) is the final secondary education diploma. Under existing regulations, class councils will evaluate students based on their year-round work rather than external exam results.

How the Crisis Unfolded

Teacher mobilization began in late May, with the first exam cancellations reported in City of Liège schools. On June 17, teachers began blocking “safe-schools” (écoles coffres-forts) — centralized locations where exam papers were stored for distribution. Pickets were organized at Bressoux Piron, the Athénées of Visé and Soumagne, and Institut Laurent, as reported by RTBF.

“We’re blocking the directors who are trying to come and get the external evaluations, so the CE1D and CESS for secondary schools,” one teacher explained at the Bressoux Piron picket. “Simply because we’re on strike, so we’re continuing the blockade.”

In response, Education Minister Valérie Glatigny sent bailiffs to the safe-schools on June 18 to retrieve the exam papers — a move that further inflamed tensions. That same afternoon, City of Liège schools announced cancellations, followed in the evening by the Province of Liège, which cancelled exams in all 13 of its secondary schools.

“The conditions are not in place to organize the external exams serenely,” the provincial authority stated. “Several uncertainties remain, particularly regarding access to the exams, their transport, distribution, student supervision, and the availability of educational teams.”

Spread to Brussels

The movement has since spread to the capital. Schools in Ixelles — including Saint-Boniface and Charles Janssens — and in Schaerbeek — including Fernand Blum, Emile Max, and Frans Fisher — were forced to cancel parts of the CESS exams on Friday, as detailed by RTBF.

Gauthier Calomne, education alderman in Ixelles, confirmed that exams could not proceed “due to a lack of participants, both among the teaching staff and the students.” Thomas Eraly, his counterpart in Schaerbeek, noted that while exams are legally required, schools were forced to cancel when teachers and educators did not show up.

Voices from the Ground

Rudi Creeten, director of Athénée Léonie de Waha in Liège, questioned the value of exams under such circumstances. “We need to know what value we’re going to give to an external exam when it’s taken in circumstances like these, with students who have been out of school,” he told RTBF. “Sincerely, these exams should be taken as an indicator. But there are many other indicators: daily support of the student by teachers.”

Union leaders have pledged to continue the fight. Régine Fourny of CSC Enseignement Liège said the pickets are “a symbolic action, a way for teachers to show they disagree and that they will continue to the finish until the minister revises her measures.” Unions have announced continued mobilization through the end of the school year and into the summer.

What Happens Next for Students

Under the legal framework of the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, class councils are empowered to award certificates based on year-round work when external exams cannot be taken — a mechanism previously used during the COVID-19 pandemic. Jorre Dewitte, regional secretary of CGSP Enseignement, assured parents that class councils “will evaluate the aptitudes of each student” and that their goal “will obviously not be to penalize children.”

Broader Implications

The crisis represents a major test for the coalition government of MR and Les Engagés, which faces growing public support for social movements against its austerity measures. With teachers promising further action at the start of the next school year, the standoff between Minister Glatigny and the education sector shows no signs of resolution. The question now is whether the cancellations will spread further — and whether the government will be forced back to the negotiating table.