CEB Results Hit Decade Low as Congo Exam Question Sparks Outrage
The 2026 Certificat d’Études de Base (CEB) results in Belgium’s French-speaking community have fallen to their lowest level in a decade, with a pass rate of 84.63% — the weakest since 2016. The decline comes as a separate controversy erupts over a history-geography exam question that critics say reproduced colonial propaganda about Belgium’s colonization of the Congo.
A Decade-Low Pass Rate
According to La Libre Belgique, 43,425 out of 51,308 students passed the exam, representing a pass rate of 84.63%. This marks the lowest result since 2016, when the pass rate stood at 85.5%. The 2020 exams were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The decline is primarily attributed to the introduction of new exam questions aligned with the “tronc commun” (common core) curriculum, which tested students on newly defined knowledge and skills for the first time. As a result, old practice exams were no longer fully relevant to the new curriculum.
Subject-level results reveal a mixed picture. French scores improved to 77.21% (up from 73.77% in 2025), but mathematics results dropped significantly from 75.57% to 70.82%. Sciences averaged 70.76%, while history and geography posted a 73.20% average.
Starting next year, the pass threshold will become more stringent: students will need at least 50% in each subject and a 60% overall average to pass, compared to the current requirement of a 50% overall average.
The Congo Question Controversy
While the results themselves have raised questions about the effectiveness of education reforms, a separate firestorm has erupted over Question 10 in the History-Geography section of the CEB. As reported by La Libre Belgique, students were presented with a document excerpt from a 2015 exhibition panel titled “Du coup de grisou au caoutchouc” (From Firedamp to Rubber), displayed at the Muséobus.
The document describes King Léopold II as “un roi entreprenant et un fin stratège” (an enterprising king and a fine strategist) and defines colonization using terms such as “the strongest and most developed countries” and “peoples then considered inferior, less organized, and judged incapable of defending themselves.”
Crucially, the original 2015 exhibition panel did contain critical elements — including a Mark Twain caricature depicting Léopold II as an ogre devouring the Congo, and paragraphs on state violence, corporal punishment, burned villages, and confiscated property. These critical elements were removed in the version used for the CEB exam, leaving only the flattering portrait of the king and the euphemistic definition of colonization.
Outrage from Experts and Educators
Julien Truddaïu, author of “Notre Congo/Onze Kongo – La propagande coloniale dévoilée,” called the document “the vocabulary of management applied to the architect of one of the most murderous colonial enterprises of the 20th century.” In an analysis reported by RTBF, he noted that the narrative is “exactly the register of Belgian school textbooks from 1908: Léopold II presented as visionary, colonization as a civilizing mission, violence non-existent.”
Bernard Hubien, Secretary General of UFAPEC (Union of Parents of Catholic Education), expressed surprise at the document’s inclusion, criticizing the lack of contextualization. “The document had no contextualization and was not linked to the questions asked,” he told RTBF. Multiple teachers described the content as “shameful” and “horrible,” questioning how such material made it into an official exam.
Official Responses
The cabinet of Education Minister Valérie Glatigny (MR) stated that it “itself questions the formulation of this question,” referring further inquiries to the administration. The Administration Générale de l’Enseignement defended the document, arguing that the terms used “are in no way the point of view of the CEB writers, but that of the colonizers of the time” and that the excerpt is “sufficient for the validation of the evaluated competency.”
The administration also noted that CEB questions are prepared by a panel of teachers, counselors, inspectors, and administration members, independent of the Minister’s cabinet. It added that the critical approach to colonization is part of the tronc commun curriculum but is taught in secondary school — meaning primary students taking the CEB had not yet studied it.
Truddaïu dismissed the administration’s response as a “dodge,” asking: “Where is the violence? Where is the segregation? Where are the mutilations, forced labor, crimes? The definition describes a gaze without ever naming the acts.”
Broader Implications
The controversy exposes deep tensions in Belgian society about how to teach colonial history. For decades, Belgian school textbooks presented Léopold II as a “builder king” and colonization as a “civilizing mission.” A 2008 study found that nearly a quarter of Belgian students did not know the Congo had been a Belgian colony.
The debate unfolds against a backdrop of broader teacher mobilization against education reforms in the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles. Teacher unions have called for strikes on August 24 and September 14, 2026, with a demonstration already held in Charleroi on June 30.
What’s Next
As the controversy continues to unfold, key questions remain unanswered: Who made the decision to remove critical passages from the original exhibition document? What review process did the exam question go through? And will the Minister of Education acknowledge an error and take corrective action? The answers will have significant implications for both education policy and Belgium’s ongoing reckoning with its colonial past.