Editing Belgium (section)

===Education===
{{Main|Education in Belgium}}
[[File:2011-09-24 17.42 Leuven, universiteitsbibliotheek ceg74154 foto4.jpg|thumb|The Central Library of the [[KU Leuven]] University]]
Education is compulsory from 6 to 18 years of age for Belgians.<ref name="Hofman_Hofman_Gray_Daly">{{cite book|title=Institutional context of education systems in Europe: a cross-country comparison on quality and equity|first1=Roelande H.|last1=Hofman|first2=W. H. A.|last2=Hofman|first3=J. M.|last3=Gray|first4=P.|last4=Daly|publisher=Kluwer Academic Publishers|year=2004|isbn=978-1-4020-2744-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nskLDqh40dwC|pages=97, 105|access-date=11 October 2015|archive-date=18 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240518143715/https://books.google.com/books?id=nskLDqh40dwC|url-status=live}} Extracts: [{{GBurl|id=nskLDqh40dwC|p=97}} p. 97], [{{GBurl|id=nskLDqh40dwC|p=105}} p. 105]</ref> Among [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development|OECD]] countries in 2002, Belgium had the third highest proportion of 18- to 21-year-olds enrolled in [[postsecondary education]], at 42%.<ref name="NCES_Tbl-388">{{cite web|title=Table 388. Percentage of population enrolled in secondary and postsecondary institutions, by age group and country – Chapter 6. International Comparisons of Education, data: 2002|work=Digest of Education Statistics—Tables and Figures|year=2005|publisher=[[National Center for Education Statistics]], [[Institute of Education Sciences]] (IES), [[US Department of Education]]|url=http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d05/tables/dt05_388.asp|access-date=6 June 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070605120831/http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d05/tables/dt05_388.asp|archive-date=5 June 2007|url-status=live}}</ref> Though an estimated 99% of the adult population is literate, concern is rising over [[functional illiteracy]].<ref name="Ethnologue-15thEd" /><ref name="UNDP">{{cite web|title=I. Monitoring Human Development: Enlarging peoples's choices&nbsp;... —5. Human poverty in OECD, Eastern Europe and the CIS|work=Human Development Indicators|pages=172–173|publisher=[[United Nations Development Programme]] (UNDP)|year=2000|url=http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2000/en/pdf/hdr_2000_back1.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070614025222/http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2000/en/pdf/hdr_2000_back1.pdf|archive-date=14 June 2007|access-date=6 June 2007|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Programme for International Student Assessment]] (PISA), coordinated by the OECD, currently ranks Belgium's education as the 19th best in the world, being significantly higher than the OECD average.<ref name="OECD_PISA-2006">{{cite web|title=Range of rank on the PISA 2006 science scale|publisher=[[OECD]]|url=http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/42/8/39700724.pdf|access-date=27 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091229020307/http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/42/8/39700724.pdf|archive-date=29 December 2009|url-status=live}}</ref> Education is organized separately by each community. The Flemish Community scores noticeably above the French and German-speaking Communities.<ref name="De-Meyer_Pauly_Van-de-Poele">{{cite web|title=Learning for Tomorrow's Problems – First Results from PISA2003|page=52|publisher=Ministry of the Flemish Community – Education Department; [[University of Ghent]] – Department of Education, Ghent, Belgium (Online by [[OECD]])|access-date=27 February 2011|year=2005|url=http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/57/60/36324368.pdf|author1=De Meyer, Inge|author2=Pauly, Jan|author3=Van de Poele, Luc|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110428094513/http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/57/60/36324368.pdf|archive-date=28 April 2011|url-status=live}}</ref>

Mirroring the structure of the 19th-century Belgian political landscape, characterized by the [[Liberal Party (Belgium)|Liberal]] and the [[Catholic Party (Belgium)|Catholic parties]], the educational system is segregated into secular and religious schools. The secular branch of schooling is controlled by the communities, the provinces, or the municipalities, while religious, mainly [[Catholic school|Catholic branch]] education, is organized by religious authorities, which are also subsidized and supervised by the communities.<ref name="De-Ley">{{cite web|title=Humanists and Muslims in Belgian Secular Society (Draft version)|author=De Ley, Herman|publisher=Centrum voor Islam in Europe (Center for Islam in Europe), [[Ghent University]]|year=2000|url=http://www.flwi.ugent.be/cie/CIE/deley10.htm|access-date=7 June 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609120804/http://www.flwi.ugent.be/cie/CIE/deley10.htm|archive-date=9 June 2007}}</ref>