Glatigny Axes Common Core in Major School Reform

Wallonia-Brussels Federation Education Minister Valerie Glatigny unveiled a sweeping overhaul of lower secondary education on 13 October, abandoning the flagship tronc commun (common core curriculum) and reinstating grade retention. The reform, presented at the inaugural meeting of her new Advisory Committee, reshapes the first three years of secondary school and seeks to defuse a jobs crisis in the qualifying-education track.

“Techniquement, il n’y a plus de tronc commun,” Glatigny said, meaning that technically there is no longer a common core. The plan, first detailed in the government’s orientation note and confirmed in her announcement, represents a decisive break with the 2017 Pact for Teaching Excellence.

What Changes

Four measures define the reform. First, the uniform class schedule that kept all pupils on the same path until the third year is discarded. From the third year (S3), pupils will take eight weekly periods of activites orientantes - orientation activities - chosen from two different domains, each worth four periods, spanning fields from new technologies to health and crafts.

“Pour travailler sur l’orientation de l’eleve, qu’il puisse prendre sa decision en toute connaissance de cause,” Glatigny told RTL Info - to work on the pupil’s orientation, so they can decide in full knowledge.

Second, automatic passage from the first year (S1) to the second (S2) is no longer guaranteed. Grade retention, or redoublement, becomes possible again at the end of S1.

Third, a second modern language becomes compulsory from S2. A pupil who studied English in primary school will continue it and must add Dutch or German. “C’est important pour marquer le fait que les langues sont fondamentales dans le cursus d’un eleve,” Glatigny said.

Fourth, the CE1D - the external certification exam at the end of S2 - disappears in its current form. It is replaced by the CESI (Certificat d’enseignement secondaire inferieur), taken a year later at the end of S3, where orientation activities now carry certifying weight, as set out in the government’s official press release.

Defusing a Jobs Crisis

The reform’s most politically sensitive element concerns employment. The original common-core plan would have scrapped option hours in S2 and S3 - options that make up 16 hours a week in S3 - threatening between 1,334 and 1,400 full-time equivalent teaching posts, mostly in the qualifying track.

The government’s own press release acknowledges the figure, noting that the Pact as negotiated a decade ago prevoyait une perte de 1.400 ETP. Glatigny had signalled her discomfort as early as March 2025, telling RTBF: “Je ne souhaite plus assumer de pertes d’emplois” - I no longer wish to take responsibility for job losses.

Under the revised plan, the option hours are replaced by the two blocks of orientation activities. The Minister says there will be no dismissals; staff losing hours will be redeployed to orientation activities in S4-S6. However, natural retirements will not be replaced, gradually reducing headcount, InfoMinute reported.

Unions remain cautious. “On pourrait etre rassure avec ceci, mais il faut voir dans l’operationnalisation maintenant comment ca va se faire,” said Francis Penning, deputy secretary-general of CSC Enseignement - one could be reassured, but we must see how it works in practice. Adrien Rosman of SETCa-SEL warned that union remarks arrivent relativement tard and doubted the government would have time to take them into account.

A Fractured Consultation

The announcement came through the new Comite d’avis (Advisory Committee), which held its first meeting with roughly 30 participants - school organising authorities, parents’ associations, the education administration, school directors and external observers. The CGSP union boycotted it.

The body is meant to rebuild a dialogue that has seized up since 2022, when four of five teaching unions left the official consultation body. L’Avenir described the move as a hand extended by the Minister to relaunch dialogue. Andre Grenier, administrator-general of Wallonie-Bruxelles-Enseignement, struck a pragmatic note: “Il y a encore du travail a faire, notamment sur les domaines d’activite,” he said, because schools must already begin preparing the organisation of the second year.

Background and Implications

The tronc commun was the centrepiece of the 2017 Pact for Teaching Excellence, designed to delay early tracking and reduce inequality. Its implementation had long been contested. By December 2025, the government was already stripping Latin from the first year in favour of digital and cultural education and an extra maths hour - a move that teachers of ancient languages said risked quietly burying their field, RTBF reported.

Glatigny has framed the shift as adapting a decade-old plan to a changed society, citing the pandemic, mental-health pressures and the rise of artificial intelligence. She also waived new budget cuts for 2027, promising argent frais for pupils.

Critics counter that ending the common core reintroduces early segregation between academic and qualifying paths - the very inequality the Pact sought to reduce. Much depends on how the orientation activities are implemented, and whether they offer genuine choice or simply sort pupils earlier.

What’s Next

The reform text is due for a first reading in the government on 23 October 2026, a tight timeline before the next school year. Unions have called a day of action on 24 November. Also unresolved are the precise domains of the orientation activities and how thousands of affected teachers will be reassigned.

For now, Glatigny has achieved a dual objective: preserving jobs in the qualifying track while formally retiring the common core. Whether that trade-off serves pupils as well as it serves the payroll is the question that will define the debate ahead.