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Belgium's School Phone Ban: What Schools Need to Know in 2026
Yes. Since the 2025-26 school year all three language communities ban phones in school, with different rules. French- and German-speaking schools ban them from nursery to the end of secondary. Flanders bans them all day up to the second grade of secondary and in lessons only in the third grade.
Education belongs to the communities, so there are three rules. In Flanders a decree in force since 1 September 2025 bans smartphones and smartwatches all day in primary and the first and second grades of secondary; in the third grade the ban covers lessons only. The French Community bans recreational use from nursery to 6e secondaire: devices off and stored from arrival to the end of school activities. German-speaking schools ban them in lessons and breaks.
The German-speaking Community announced its ban on 23 November 2024 for the 2025 school year. The French Community gave final approval on 12 March 2025, and its ban took effect when classes resumed on 25 August 2025. The Flemish Parliament's education committee approved the decree on 23 May 2025, and it applied from 1 September 2025. Flemish schools may set stricter rules for the third grade, and there is no federal law because schools are a community matter.
Each school writes the rule into its own regulations and chooses sanctions. Exemptions cover teaching use, such as media literacy, and pupils with medical or special needs, for example diabetes monitoring. French-speaking heads told La Libre they mostly rely on confiscation, with repeat offenders' phones returned only to parents; some avoided lockers or pouches, citing cost and dummy phones. The Kaleido centre helps German-speaking schools.
Whatever the rule in Belgium requires of your école, athénée or secundaire school, lockable pouches let students keep their own phone, locked, from the first bell to the last, so the school does not collect, store or answer for devices. Before The Internet ships lockable phone pouches and unlocking bases worldwide, including to Belgium, and can print the school's name or crest on them. Schools buy them outright: one price, no subscription, lease or per-student annual licence. Send us your student numbers and any written quote you already have, and we will beat it.
Frequently asked questions
Does the Belgian ban cover breaks and lunch?
Yes in French-speaking and German-speaking schools, and in Flemish primary and the first two grades of secondary. In the Flemish third grade of secondary the ban applies only during lessons.
Are there exemptions for medical needs?
Yes. All three communities allow exceptions for pupils with medical needs or disabilities, such as glucose monitoring, and for teacher-directed educational use.
Can Belgian schools use phone pouches?
Yes. The rules set the outcome, not the method, and leave practical arrangements and sanctions to each school, so lockers, boxes or lockable pouches are all permitted.
Related reading
School phone bans by country · Phone-free schools toolkit · How to roll out phone pouches in a school
Written by the team at Before The Internet, a Toronto-based phone-free company that rents lockable phone pouches for events across North America and sells them to schools and venues worldwide, shipping purchases to any country.
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