Lieven De Rycke

The value of concentration schools as appreciated by Moroccans, Turks, and unskilled Belgians in Brussels

Abstract Over the past few years, the number of schools with relatively high numbers of immigrants’ children seems to have increased sharply in certain suburbs of Brussels. No ethnic group is in favor of strongly homogeneous concentration schools, whether they be Turks, Moroccans, or French-speaking Belgians. Despite their poor knowledge of the schooling system, the Turks, Moroccans and unskilled Belgians perceive education as the ultimate vehicle for social integration and social mobility. They also are fully aware that concentration schools are not the answer to social exclusion, nor a path to social integration. Here we are confronted with a situation of involuntary ethnic homogenization through socio-ethnic stratification.