The history of the Salesian school presence in Belgium begins in Liège, which the current school Principal, Nathalie, describes as 'the Nizza of Belgium'. Why Nizza? Because similar to shift from Mornese to Nizza, the first centre founded by St John Bosco outside Italy during his lifetime was located there. And it is a centre that he himself visited several times. Liège was also born from a dream of Don Bosco on 8 December 1887, shortly before his death. This is why it is often said that Liège was among the last works commissioned by the saint in Turin. It was actually inaugurated three years later, in 1891, by Don Michele Rua, Don Bosco's first successor at the head of the congregation.
In Liège, the Salesian educational complex is located in the Laveu district. Three schools coexist at this place: the 'Don Bosco' Primary school with twelve classes (nursery and primary), the 'Saint-Jean-Berchmans - Sainte-Marie' institute (the secondary school, the equivalent of a college or high school in France) and the 'Don Bosco' institute, a Technical and Vocational Training centre. In addition, a new urban, civic and educational project is being built on part of the Salesian site (over 12,000 m2) and will be officially inaugurated next December.
In Remouchamps, too, the Salesian mission is spread over two locations, in this case, with a total of around 1,000 pupils: the "Saint-Joseph" primary school and the "Saint-Raphaël" secondary school. The Saint-Raphaël location also hosts a 'Don Bosco' educational boarding school, which is part of the 'Don Bosco Social Action' network and has become co-educational since last September, with the start of the new school year.
Located some 20 kilometres from Remouchamps is the 'Don Bosco Institute' in Verviers. A secondary school that offers training in 14 trades, including carpentry, electricity, construction, IT and mechanics. One of its alumni, Alain Maes, a carpenter, shone a few weeks ago at a European arts and crafts competition, the 'Worldskills', in Gdansk, Poland.
Another 'Don Bosco Institute' is located in Huy. This Salesian school has just over 480 pupils and offers training in the fields of industry, personal care, wood construction, science, IT, economics and the hotel and food industry.
The last three Salesian institutes are located outside the province of Liège.
The mostly French speaking of the Belgian cities, Tournai, located half an hour's drive from Lille, is home to the 'Don Bosco Institute'. It hosts approximately 1,000 pupils, who are educated from primary school through to technical and vocational secondary education. The courses offered here is very wide-ranging: computer graphics, printing, 3D computer graphics, PVC and aluminium manufacturing, the wood craft, roofing, workshop mechanics, automotive electronics, machine hydraulics, electromechanics, electricity, automation, IT, machining, maintenance, welding, masonry, public works and computer-aided drawing. Again, the educational complex is accompanied by a boarding school to accommodate the students.
Lastly, Belgium's capital, Brussels, is home to two Salesian schools: one for general education, the 'Collège Don Bosco' in Woluwé-Saint-Lambert, with classes from kindergarten to secondary school and a total of 1,500 pupils, which celebrated its 60th anniversary last May; and one for technical and vocational education, the 'Institut Don Bosco' in Woluwé-Saint-Pierre (specialising in printing, automation and maintenance). The two institutes were one between 1922 and the 1960s, but then had to be separated to take account of their development.
It is also worth mentioning that in the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, about 50 per cent of the pupils are educated in French-speaking Catholic schools.
To find out more about Salesian schools in France, South Belgium, Morocco and Tunisia, visit: www.ecoles-donbosco.org.
