After years of efforts, a Slovenian language section has opened at one of the four European Schools in Brussels. Nursery school is available this year, to be joined by primary and secondary school classes later on.

The new Slovenian language section is an opportunity for Slovenian children to receive education in their mother tongue while also increasing the diversity of the school, David Tran, director of European School Brussels I, told a ceremony on 10 September marking the opening of the new language section.

According to him, two children attend the Slovenian section this year. He expressed the hope that the number will gradually increase, as some 120 Slovenian children have attended the school so far.

Slovenian Education Minister Darjo Felda told the ceremony the Slovenian language section at the European School Brussels I was a "big gain for Slovenia", which will support the section by providing teachers and funds for their salaries.

"Just as it is important for an individual to love his or her mother tongue, it is crucial for a community to have a place where that language can live," the minister said, thanking the parents for their trust and all those who have worked over the years to establish the section.

Among them was Simona Cajhen, former head teacher at the European School Brussels I. "By opening the section, we have essentially provided a space for quality Slovenian language learning, but also for solving all the problems that our pupils face at the European School," she said.

The ceremony, which was also addressed by Iztok Jarc, permanent representative of Slovenia to the EU, and Manuel Bordoy Verchili, deputy secretary-general of European Schools, featured cultural programme by Slovenian-speaking pupils from a school in Uccle, one of the municipalities in the Brussels-Capital Region. Felda gifted the school 14 birdhouses made by Slovenian secondary school students.

The European Schools is an intergovernmental organisation which has established, financed, and administered a small group of multilingual international schools which provide education to the children of EU staff in different members states.

Currently there are 13 such schools in Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Spain and another 23 accredited European Schools, including one in Ljubljana. They all offer multilingual and multicultural education from nursery to secondary school.