Abstract

Gent is the second largest flemish city, which entails typical metropolitan issues such as the concentration of underprivileged and migrant workers. lts educational network of city schools therefore has a far greater proportional share of migrant students than other schools. The local public education network, by definition has the strongest ties with the local community. Having lifted obstacles of open or concealed discrimination, it still remains difficult to assess what determines school choice, for native pupils as well as for pupils of foreign origin.It is therefore necessary to part from the assumption that education of migrant children is necessarily of inferior quality. City schools start from the basic idea that high quality education is obtained by getting the best out of every child in accordance with his or her talents. Gent has chosen to work with heterogeneousgroups. Social and racial segregation does not prepare students adequately for "real life" in society. This concentration of pupils of underprivileged and deprived origin implies that one necessarily has to keep education as inexpensive as possible.