Since 1989 all educational matters have been transferred to the jurisdiction of the communities and the regions and the Flemish, French and German councils have legislative power over education and training. The first legislative measure taken by the Flemish community on training was a Royal Decree of 24 March 1967 which contained procedures for regulation and subvention of national and regional organisations of adult education. In contrast, the cultural council of the French community opted for one decree on L'éducation permanente des adultes on 6 April 1976. Subsequent legislation by each community has developed these positions.

1997 European statistics gives the gross domestic product of Belgium as 20,497 Ecu. The workforce is split thus: 3% agriculture, 29% industry, 68% services.

Population	10,100,631
GDP per head	20,497 Ecu

 

In Belgium vocational training is partially covered by extended compulsory education (Law of 29 July 1983). During compulsory education, the young person may attend courses in technical or vocation secondary education as well as recognised training courses such as those organised by Flemish Institute for self-employed (VIZO) and the Training Institute for Small and Middle Sized Enterprises (IFPME) and part-time training courses (dual system). The young person may have an industrial apprenticeship contract with an employer which is regulated by the Law of 19 July 1983 and 24 July 1987.

After compulsory education, other forms of vocational training exist, such as social advancement courses (adult education) which respond to the cultural as well as the professional needs of the individual. Diplomas can be obtained upon completion of the courses, which are either part-time course with long term training ( 2 to 4 years) or short-term training by modules (of 20 to 40 weeks per year).

Continuing training centres of the Ministry of Small Firms and Trades offer courses for those wishing to manage companies dealing in commerce, crafts, services or small enterprises as well as training courses for the self-employed and their close collaborators. The employment services Regional Agency for Vocational Training and Employment (FOREM) and Flemish Agency for Employment and Vocational Training (VDAB) offer various types of continuing vocational training to suit the job seeker as well as the person in employment. Many non-profit making bodies (ASBLs), which are subsidised by the State, ensure the vocational training of adults with limited schooling, primarily by way of extended actions to promote socio-professional insertion. Several higher education establishments are constantly increasing the number of programmes for adults.

Government distance training provision

Proprietary distance training provision

Distance teaching university

University level distance education

• the Bestuur Afstandsonderwijs is the distance training college of the Ministry of the Flemish Community of Belgium.
• one proprietary provider: Gama of Brussels
• the provision of some open or distance or flexible training in Flanders by other public bodies.

There can be little doubt that in 1997 the status and importance of the Bestuur Afstandsonderwijs was enhanced by the decision of the government of Flanders to close the Studiecentrum Open Hoger Onderwijs (STOHO). This leaves the Bestuur Afstandsonderwijs as the only official centralised provider of training at a distance in Flanders.

This distance training college of the Government Ministry of the Flemish Community of Belgium (Ministerie van de Vlaamse Gemeenschap) is located at 67 Koningstraat in the centre of Brussels.

It is administered by the Permanent Education Section of the Department of Education and is called Bestuur Afstandsonderwijs (Distance Education Service). It was founded in 1959 and formed part of a joint French-Flemish provision until 1968.

It enrols 25.000 adults per year in a range of 70 courses and is free. It has at least 50.000 students enrolled at any one time.

There is a full-time staff who are in charge of course development, information, enrolment, study supervision, typography, administration and finance. More than 216 tutors are employed for assignment correction and two-way communication with students. They are subject to Ministry of Education regulations which stipulate the number of hours that they can be employed in distance education.

Students can enrol at any time of the year and study at their own rhythm with the submission of assignments being a requisite for progress in the course.

There are 6 groupings of courses:

• languages
• mathematics
• computers and information technology
• trade, economics and administration
• science
• technical subjects.

The model is that of the government distance training institution, similar in structure to the CNED in France.

The Bestuur Afstandsonderwijs describes its services to the Flemish community thus:

It need not be said that countries such as Australia, Canada and Norway have been offering long distance courses for quite some time. Sometimes, vast distances had to be covered, climatological problems had to be solved, isolated groups needed to be reached and cost-cutting initiatives had to be developed.

Distance education could be defined in the following, simple way: education aimed at covering distances or bridging gaps.

It is obvious as well that correspondence courses constitute a very successful method for solving these problems. Sending study packages to a certain target audience is a basic long distance education form.

In Flanders (and in similarly small countries), the "long distance" concept is very relative and long distance education is a term used to define an education form that is not based on class-room contact situations.

The education material is sent from a central service to groups or individuals and, moreover, a few organisational measures make written and oral couching possible. Here, refresher courses, training, education and further training are offered on the basis of self-study and home study. An ancient pedagogic ideal provides each human being (and student) with the possibilities to study in the way that suits him or her best. This form of education approaches the individual, bridges gaps, covers distances, can be spread over a period of time and - mainly - it is very flexible. In other words, the educational method is tailor-made and takes age, speed, place, social situation and level of difficulty into account.

There are no special requirements for students. Each person who subscribes to a correspondence course received the course applied for in the form of small study packages at the moment and the pace he or she chose. Next to control exercises, these packages contain assignments that must be carried out and sent to the teachers-correctors. A corps of around 150 teachers-correctors correct the assignments, assist the student in writing and offer advice and suggestions. These correctors are teachers or specialists paid for the corrections they make for the department. Oral coaching sessions, organised visits or exercise centers complete and support the programme. Those who expect "instant" courses will be disappointed. The courses have a scientific value. Going through a course takes 2 or 3 hours of study each week for about a year, on average. Students are compelled to hand in the required assignments to be corrected. These assignments are an important aspect: they constitute a means of checking whether insight into the course material is gained; for that reason, it is an essential aspect of efficient correspondence courses. It is absolutely out of the question that the courses are sent as a means of documentation or as a whole. Once can take a course individually and courses do not begin or end at fixed dates. One can subscribe to a course anytime. The afstandsonderwijs does not organize exams itself

The 1996-1997 enrolment is 25.000 with continuous enrolment all the year round being a feature of provision so that the enrolment figure changes almost on a daily basis. This enrolment is constant over the years, with a high of 37.000 in the period 1988 - 1990 due to the introduction of a new technology course for teachers. The courses cost nothing; they are free.

The Bestuur Afstandsonderwijs emerged in 1997 with its stature enhanced and with the government decision that it was correct for the government to run a national distance training institution. During the period of analysis which led to the government decision to close the STOHO, the Bestuur Afstandsonderwijs was also subject to review and appears to have emerged strengthened from the process.

There is a recognition in 1997 that little innovation was possible during the period of review and that many of the courses are now old-fashioned but decisions have already been taken to implement improvements including:

• computerised student follow-up
• bar-coding of all materials and student tasks
• computerised production of courses
• courses on the WWW
• more client-centred student services
• more feedback to and from students
• more market-oriented policies.

There is a rapidly developing range of private initiatives, including a programme from Alcatel Bell involving videoconferencing and electronic distance learning, and Elsevier has a training site on the Internet, but these are mainly for inhouse staff training at this stage.

The commercial distance training sector, as described by Weinstock, had perhaps 20 operators, with one large company and a number of language training companies, There would seem to be a decline in participation from the statistics given by Weinstock for 20 years ago, even though Weinstock's figures apply jointly to the French and Flemish communities. The Brussels telephone directory in 1996 lists very few private distance education providers.

In Flanders there are a number of other public bodies providing some open or distance or flexible training: the Federation of Employment Opportunity Training Centres (FETOC), the Flemish Employment and Vocational Training Service (VDAB) and the Training Centres for the Self-employed (CMO). Few of these programmes, however, appear to fall within the definition of distance education adopted in this survey and analysis.

Close analysis by the Voctade researchers with representatives of VDAB and of the Ministry indicates that nearly all this training is training-centred based, with trainees required to travel to the centres for nearly all their training, and that the programmes generally do not fall within the definition of distance training adopted for this study.

A survey and analysis of the provision of distance training in the European Union must attempt to present to readers the 1997 decision of the government of Flanders:

• to disband the StOHO
• to strengthen the Bestuur Afstandsonderwijs.

The Centre for Open Higher Education, Studiecentrum Open Hoger Onderwijs (StOHO) was the central structure of a consortium or association of Flemish universities and other institutions for higher education in Flanders and Brussels. It was set up in 1987 and sponsored by the Flemish Community. It was based on a network of universities and higher education institutions, following a 1985 agreement with the Open universiteit at Heerlen in the Netherlands.

The role that the StOHO saw for itself was the programming and production of courses, the co-ordination of regional support services, international co-operation and the promotion of distance education in Flanders. Six Flemish university study centres at strategically sited universities participated.

Courses were of two types: courses from the Open universiteit in the Netherlands; and courses in Flemish adapted by the StOHO from Dutch courses or developed by the StOHO. Policy was that only open higher education which was organised by existing universities can be recognised and organised by the Flemish community. It was decided not to set up an independent open university, but to adopt a consortium model, with a limited central structure. Co-operation with the Netherlands Open Universiteit was regarded as essential as being the only way in which a range of distance courses can be offered economically in Flanders. It had been clear for some years that a number of the participating universities were unhappy with the structure, they felt that the StOHO was intrusive, and wished for independence to run distance university courses at their discretion, without the presence of the StOHO.

In spite of the fragility of its structures, the StOHO was widely cited in the literature. The Fandel et al volume University level distance education in Europe devoted a full session and chapter to it which describes it in detail:

In this paper some organizational and financial aspects of distance education in Flanders are described. When the term 'university' is used it will always refer to all types of higher education institutes: universities as well as colleges for technical engineering, nursing, etc. Higher education at a distance in Flanders is not provided by a national open university like in the United Kingdom, Germany or Spain. Instead, it is provided by the conventional existing universities located in the different provinces of Flanders. A limited central agency (Centre for Open Higher Education, or StOHO) was set up to perform tasks that need co-ordination:

• development of distance courses in inter-university teams where StOHO provides financial assistance, logistical support, project management and didactic expertise
• international co-operation with open universities and other distance teaching organizations, especially with the Dutch Open universiteit and EADTU
• policy studies on distance education for Flemish governmental bodies
• promotion of distance teaching on the national level complementary to the local promotion by the universities.

• all programmes and course materials of the OuNL are made available at Flemish universities under the same conditions as for OuNL students in the Netherlands
• Flemish universities provide study centers and tutoring
• the OuNL enrols and certifies Flemish students.

Stevens and De Volder have described the three main arguments for choosing the policy options mentioned:

• acceptability is high for students and universities because the existing reputable universities are involved
• cost-effectiveness is high through the exploitation of existing infrastructures and co-operation with the Dutch Open universiteit
• educational quality is high because interuniversity teams produce courses and cross-fertilization occurs between distance and on-campus teaching.

The study centre was granted full membership of the European Association of Distance Teaching Universities (EADTU) as if it was a university or an open university.

In reality the StOHO was a vague consortium structure, strangely reminiscent of the University of Mid America (UMA) at Lincoln, Nebraska, which collapsed in 1982. Unfortunately, the distance education research literature has not drawn the lessons from the collapse of structures like the UMA, and national governments and their planners seem not to have studied the viability of models.

A government of Flanders spokesman made clear in 1997 to the Voctade enquiry the reasons for the disbandment of the StOHO:

• no fixed decision had as yet been made on the provision of distance education at university level in Flanders
• there had been close co-operation with the Dutch Open University until 1989, worked out by the universities and a private intermediary (the StOHO). In 1996 this was replaced by a contract between the universities, the Ministry and the Dutch Open University
• residents of Flanders can enrol in degree courses on the same basis as Dutch citizens and use the 6 Flanders study centres
• the StOHO was abolished in March 1997 because it was not efficient or effective. It was a private organisation subsidised by us (the government of Flanders). Its course materials did not have commitment from the traditional universities to use them. It was outside the traditional universities.
• a new intermediary organisation was under development in 1996 but the legislation did not pass in the Flemish parliament
• students at present enrolled in the Open universiteit study centres will decrease but can continue if the traditional universities keep them going. The numbers of Flemish students studying for the full Dutch (Heerlen) diplom degree are very small
• it is now the responsibility of the traditional universities to develop new information and communication technologies. We have a convergence between traditional distance education and traditional conventional universities. We have a programme to stimulate the production of electronic course material for traditional training courses and for open universities
• There is less importance being placed on distance education. There is a shift from distance education to innovation in education.

The Bestuur Afstandsonderwijs courses are free. The real cost to the taxpayers is 3 250FB per student. The budget is as follows for 1997:

Overheads  Tutors  Central administration staff, printing ,materials

8.200.000 FB  33.200.000 FB  40.000.000 FB  81.400.000 FB

In the early 1990s the StOHO had an annual government subsidy of 40.000.000 FB. It would appear that this money has not been reallocated and that the traditional universities which have the distance study centres will have to find their own resources to fund them.

1993-1994

1994-1995

1995-1996

1996-1997

In Belgium vocational training is partially covered by extended compulsory education (Law of 29 July 1983). During compulsory education, the young person may attend courses in technical or vocation secondary education as well as recognised training courses such as those organised by Flemish Institute for Self-Employed (VIZO) and the Training Institute for Small and Middle Sized Enterprises (IFPME) and part-time training courses (dual system). The young person may have an industrial apprenticeship contract with an employer which is regulated by the Law of 19 July 1983 and 24 July 1987.

After compulsory education, other forms of vocational training exist, such as social advancement course (adult education) which respond to the cultural as well as the professional needs of the individual. Diplomas can be obtained upon completion of the courses, which are either part-time course with long term training ( 2 to 4 years) or short-term training by modules (of 20 to 40 weeks per year).

Continuing training centres of the Ministry of Small Firms and Trades offer courses for those wishing to manage companies dealing in commerce, crafts, services or small enterprises as well as training courses for the self-employed and their close collaborators. The employment services Regional Agency for Vocational Training and Employment (FOREM) and Flemish Agency for Employment and Vocational Training (VDAB) offer various types of continuing vocational training to suit the job seeker as well as the person in employment. Many non-profit making bodies (ASBLs), which are subsidised by the State, ensure the vocational training of adults with limited schooling, primarily by way of extended actions to promote socio-professional insertion. Several higher education establishments are constantly increasing the number of programmes for adults.

Distance training in Wallonia is represented by the government distance training college, Ensignement à Distance, on the CNED model and the remaining three representatives of a once flourishing proprietary sector.

The legal framework for distance training in Belgium and its French-speaking community is complex. A law of 5 March 1965 on correspondence education applies to the whole country. This was developed by a decree of the French-speaking community of 18 December 1984. Twelve implementing orders have been adopted to implement this decree.

Basically the freedom on education enshrined in the Constitution gives a flexible framework for the organisation of distance training. The law of 1984 regulates government provision of distance training. The proprietary sector is not governed by the decree.

The provision of distance training in Belgium in 1997 provides an interesting study because it is one of the few EU countries for which we have a major study (488 pages) from the 1970s. Weinstock's Les cours par correspondance du secteur privé en Belgique (Private sector correspondence education in Belgium) is undated but it must have been published in 1976 by the Centre National de Sociologie du Droit Social.

The title is a misnomer. Far from being a study only of les cours par correspondance du secteur privé it deals in detail with les cours de l'état (government provision) which it shows were initiated by a cabinet decree of 22 February 1957 and commenced in 1959 in French and Flemish. It then goes on to analyse a third distance training sector L'enseignement privé à distance a but non lucratif, (non-profit private distance education) a grouping of Belgian banks, unions and medical associations. Thus one has excellent comparative data to study the evolution of distance training in Belgium over a 20 year period.

Government distance training provision

Proprietary distance training provision

Distance teaching university

University level distance education

It is called Service de l'Enseignemant à Distance de la Communauté Française de Belgique and was founded in 1959. Today it offers 150 courses to about 50.000 students of whom 13.574 were newly enrolled in 1995. It is an extremely open provision as students are invited to enrol whenever they like, study at their own rhythm, finish when they like and the courses are practically free of charge. The statistics for the student body, therefore, change from day to day.

The college employs full-time staff who all specialise in distance education full-time and are responsible for both the administration of the course development programme and the student support services. The college employs hundreds of tutors for the correction of assignments and two-way communication with students. These are subject to Ministry of Education regulations which stipulate the number of hours that can be worked in distance education.

The distance education provision was free up to 1993 when an administrative change of 1.500 BF was introduced following a cabinet decision of 28 September 1992 to impose a non-tuition fee. Various classes of citizens are exempt from the registration fee:

• certain classes of unemployed
• unemployed compulsorily enrolled by the Social Services
• handicapped
• teachers, provided the course is strictly for retraining
• Belgian citizens resident overseas
• prisoners
• long term hospitalised.

Nearly all students are adults: less that 4% in 1995 were under the age of 18.

The 150 courses are grouped into these subject areas: computing, technical, administrative and public service, competitive examinations, business, social sciences, human resources, natural sciences, geography, mathematics, languages.

The commercial distance training sector, as described by Weinstock, had perhaps 20 operators, with one large company and a number of language training companies. There would seem to be a decline in participation from the statistics given by Weinstock for 20 years ago, even though Weinstock's figures apply jointly to the French and Flemish communities. The Brussels telephone directory in 1996 lists few private distance education providers

In 1997 the Wallonia Ministry has decided to move the Enseignement á Distance from the 17^th Floor of the World Trade Centre skyscraper at Blvd. Emile Jacqumain in the new commercial centre of Brussels to a city centre location at 204 rue Royale which the college previously occupied in the 1980s.

The model is similar to the CNED in France with 50 full-time administrative staff and 400 part-time tutors. New projects in 1997 include courses on the Internet, and new courses in English and Dutch. Unlike the Bestuur Afstandsonderwijs in another part of the city, all the didactic and administrative costs came within its annual budget of 200.000.000 BF, whereas the Bestuur Afstandsonderwijs's structure is that it has to use the government printer and other government services for its production.

The programme is practically free as there is a registration fee of BF 1.500, introduced in recent years, and tuition remains free. Enrolment is stable at 13.000 citizens per annum, each enrolled in 4-5 courses for a total of about 60.000 course enrolments. Enrolment is continuous so this figure changes on a daily basis and there are normally at least 25.000 citizens enrolled at any one time doing their 4-5 courses over more than a one year period.

The proprietary sector is in 1997 represented by 3 colleges:

• Culture et Formation, Brussels
• Ecole Des Metiers, Liège
• Mediodidak, Brussels

This is a great change from the 20 providers analysed by Weinstock in his Les cours par correspondance du secteur privé en Belgique (Private sector correspondence education in Belgium) in 1975.

A leading proprietary distance education provider in Belgium is Cultures et Formations at 198 Boulevard du Souverain, 1160 Bruxelles. It is linked to a College in France at Valenciennes, also called Cultures et Formations. The Culture et Formation operation is described as 'Cours per correspondance'in their Belgian publicity and 'Centre privé d'ensignement à distance. Soumis au contrôle pédagogique de l'Etat' in its French publicity.

It was stated to the Voctade enquiry that studying at a distance is little known in Belgium. It was described as a confidential, almost a secret activity. There was little publicity.

The rich panorama described by Weinstock in his study nearly 20 years ago in both Wallonia and Flanders has almost completely disappeared:

The International School at Tournhout was disbanded three years ago.

The reasons given to the Voctade enquiry for the collapse of proprietary distance education in Belgium are:

• hostile Belgian legislation
• the smallness of the market
• Belgians, like the Italians and the French, are little interested in postal buying of anything, especially training
• easy, small distance between institutions
• people are poor, unemployment is rife
• people no longer believe that they can solve their economic problems by studying
• publicity and advertising are very expensive. There is little choice of advertising medium and few newspapers and few other channels.

The provision of distance education courses from conventional French-speaking universities is minimal. There are some initiatives form the Université de Bruxelles (ULB, CUDEC), an important project from the Service de Technologie Educative of the University of Liège, and also from the University of Louvain-La-Neuve and Mons University. But the total enrolment of a distance would be less than a few hundred.

The proprietary providers are

Culture et Formation  Ecole des Mètiers  Medididakt

Total volume in 1997 of about 67,500,000 FB

1997

1993-1994

1994-1995

1995-1996

1996-1997