On Thursday night, September 14th, an elementary school in the French-speaking Belgian municipality of Charleroi was set on fire—the sixth school to suffer that fate in just two days.
Investigators suspect that the fires can be traced back to negative reactions to a decree—approved earlier that week—on sex education lessons in schools in Wallonia and Brussels.
Under the so-called ‘Evras’ (Éducation à la Vie Relationnelle, Affective et Sexuelle) decree, for two hours each year, French-speaking pupils (in the sixth grade of primary school, ages 11-12, and fourth grade of secondary school, ages 15-16) have to be taught about sexuality, relationships and emotions.
The introduction of the mandatory lessons has led to protests, coming from Islamic and Catholic, but also non-religious Facebook groups. Influencers, such as French rapper Rohff, who called for his nearly one million followers to sign a petition in protest, are also voicing their opposition.
According to them, under the decree, children would be taught to masturbate, porn be condoned, and transgenderism promoted.
Seven Islamic associations co-signed a letter expressing their objections to the lessons, De Standaard reports.
Earlier in the week, in Brussels, irate parents protested in front of the parliament of the French community. In Charleroi, four elementary schools were set on fire on Tuesday night alone. At those schools, graffiti reading “No Evras” had been sprayed on the walls.
Another elementary school was set on fire Wednesday night and the aforementioned sixth school on Thursday night—at the latter two schools, no graffiti had been found.
Reacting to the first acts of arson, the Mayor of Charleroi, Paul Magnette (Parti Socialiste), wrote on X:
“To attack our schools is to attack our children. These barbaric acts are all the more criminal because they damage the future of students: their education, their growth, their emancipation.”
In a video message, Belgian PM Alexander De Croo said that “as a father,” he was “shocked” by the acts of arson in schools in Wallonia. “A school should be a safe place for all children, and the right to sex education cannot be questioned,” he said. “It leads to children being resilient and it is essential in sexual health for all.”
A spokesperson for Sensoa, the Flemish expertise center for sexual health, told VRT that a “fake news campaign” had been launched that plays on parents’ emotions. “Absurd claims are being spread, as if students are learning to masturbate or as if porn would be shown during those lessons. This got parents panicked.”
As reported by RTBF, it was this month’s publication of a 300-page Evras guide that led to (undue) outrage online. The guide, it says, is not a handbook that would be handed out to students or pupils, but a publication containing tools for educators, counselors, or teachers when faced with questions from minors about sexuality, emotions, and relationships.
