Belgian students demand free higher education

Members of the French-speaking student association protested outside the building of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation in Brussels to demand free education.

According to the students, the annual study costs are between €8,000 and €12,000. The money is not within reach for everyone and makes higher education sometimes inaccessible.

However, the student association recalls, that the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, adopted by the UN in 1966, states that “higher education shall be made equally accessible to all, on the basis of capacity, by every appropriate means, and in particular by the progressive introduction of free education”.

The fight against student insecurity is long-time fight for the student association (FEF). The new Walloon government has promised refinancing but the association is not satisfied with promises.

The association set up a “student checkpoint” to make their point to the government. The students also announced that the government was “in default”.