question_answer

The Mayor of Merchtem, a town near Brussels in Belgium, has defended a ban on speaking French in the town's schools. He said that the ban would help all non-Dutch speakers integrate in this Flemish town. Do you think that this measure is in keeping with the spirit of Belgium's power sharing arrangements? Give your reasons in about 50 words.                                                                                                                        [NCERT]

Answer:

No we do not think that this measure of putting a ban on speaking French in Belgium's school is in keeping with the spirit of Belgium's power sharing because:

(i) The Dutch community could take advantage of its numeric majority and forced its will on the French and German speaking population.

(ii) This would push the conflict among communities further and could lead to a very messy partition of the country.

Hence, the Belgium Constitution prescribes the equal representation and participation to both the French and the Dutch speaking people whether in the schools or at the government levels.