The Erasmus+ EduLAw Project for Strengthening Rights-based Education

The purpose of the article is to explore the relevance of the EduLAw (ELA) project on law modules for teacher training courses, illustrated in the case study of the legal developments in the Flemish Community of Belgium.
The article analyses this issue by addressing two key points: firstly, it explains the background and relevance of the EduLAw project and recent European developments; secondly it illustrates how policymakers of the Flemish Community of Belgium have responded through public law to demands for stricter review of decisions about individual pupils of teachers, school principals and school boards on issues such as discipline and special needs requests. A short description of the relevant characteristics of the education system in the Flemish Community of Belgium, is followed by an examination of two 2014 decrees on education and their innovative response to demands for more transparency and legal certainty in rights-based decision making about pupils by teachers, school officials and school boards.