Extended local replacement pool for the 2026-2027 school year in the Federation Wallonia-Brussels

The Government of the French Community has extended the experimental local replacement pool scheme for the 2026-2027 school year, one of the instruments used to combat the teacher shortage in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation. The decree of October 2, 2026, published in the Belgian Official Gazette on October 16, 2026, under reference C − 2026/007548 (p. 55835), takes effect from August 24, 2026, to July 2, 2027.

The text is based on the decree of December 1, 2022, establishing an experimental scheme creating a local replacement pool for the 2025-2026 school year and containing various measures to combat the shortage, of which it extends Title I, in application of articles 13, paragraph 2, and 29, paragraph 1. The renewal covers a full school year without modifying the existing decree framework.

An evaluation presented as conclusive

The government justifies its decision based on three successive evaluation reports of the scheme:

• report no. 1, from December 2022 to March 2023;
• report no. 2, from August 2023 to October 2023;
• report no. 3, for the 2024-2025 school year.

The executive notes that the 2024-2025 evaluation concludes that the scheme is effective “to stabilize temporary teachers and improve the management of replacements in a context of shortage.” It also highlights “generally positive” feedback from organizing authorities, school heads, and participating teachers.

Two numerical indicators are highlighted: a high occupancy rate for pool teachers, around 70%, and majority satisfaction among the stakeholders concerned, around 80%. The government concludes that the scheme meets “a structural need” and constitutes a lever to strengthen the attractiveness of the teaching profession.

A mapped administrative process

The decree lists the prior formalities and consultations:

• “gender” test of January 28, 2026, established in application of the decree of January 7, 2016, relating to the integration of the gender dimension;
• opinion of the Finance Inspection of April 8, 2026, and May 21, 2026;
• agreement of the Minister of Budget of June 26, 2026;
• negotiation protocol of August 31, 2026, within Sector Committee IX, the Committee for Provincial and Local Public Services (section II), and the Negotiation Committee for the status of subsidized independent education personnel;
• negotiation protocol of September 1, 2026, within the Negotiation Committee between the Government of the French Community, Wallonie Bruxelles Enseignement, and the federations of organizing authorities referred to in article 1.6.5-6 of the Code of Primary and Secondary Education.

Calendar and responsibilities

Article 2 establishes the temporal scope of the mechanism: entry into force on August 24, 2026, and expiration of effects on July 2, 2027. Article 3 entrusts the execution of the decree to the Minister of Education.

The text was signed in Brussels on October 2, 2026, by the Minister-President, in charge of the Budget, Higher Education, Culture, Permanent Education, and International and Intra-Francophone Relations, E. Degryse, and by the Minister of Education and Adult Education, V. Glatigny, upon the proposal of the latter.

The extension remains strictly experimental: it does not make the mechanism permanent nor does it expand its scope beyond what is provided for in Title I of the 2022 decree. Organizing authorities therefore have a stable framework to organize their replacements throughout the school year, but the question of a definitive inclusion of the local pool in education law remains open beyond July 2, 2027.

Source: Belgian Official Gazette (Moniteur belge) No. 236 of October 16, 2026, decree of the Government of the French Community of October 2, 2026, C − 2026/007548, p. 55835.