The Digital Leap (‘Digisprong')
The Government of Flanders is investing in laptops and computers, as well as in ICT training for teachers and the development of digital teaching resources. The investment totals EUR 385 million for all types of education.
Do our children need more screen time? School has become more digital than ever.
It sounds crazy, but our children do need more screen time: instructive screen time at school. We want to achieve this in our classrooms with new devices, which is why we are investing in laptops and computers, as well as in ICT training for teachers and the development of digital teaching resources. The investment totals EUR 385 million for all types of education, which is a twelve-fold increase of the previous annual budget.
The digital leap can therefore be taken very literally. The youngest children will, from the first nursery class through to the fourth year, be able to experience more instructive digital sessions on a shared computer, so that they can learn new skills together via digital means.
From the fifth year onwards, pupils will get their own laptop so that teachers can differentiate better and offer them exercises by digital means which best suit their level. This will make it easier for pupils to work autonomously and give all children equal educational opportunities at the digital level. “We want to stop trailing behind in digital education and instead take the lead,” says Flemish Minister for Education Ben Weyts.
Investments are also being made in secondary education where schools can get about EUR 510 per pupil for an individual device. Another EUR 50 million will be made available for infrastructure, Internet connectivity, software packages, network security and peripherals.