Scholen van Morgen (‘Schools of Tomorrow’) is a public-private partnership (PPP) between the Flemish government, AG Real Estate and BNP Paribas Fortis.

The DBFM programme covers the design, construction, financing and 30-year maintenance of 182 school building projects, via DBFM Scholen van Morgen sa/nv.

182
projects
250
schools
710,000 m²
buildings
133,000
students

To find out more about the 182 schools and construction projects, please proceed to the Dutch version of our website.

​About Scholen van Morgen

Scholen van Morgen (‘Schools of Tomorrow’) is a public-private partnership between the Flemish government and AG Real Estate and BNP Paribas Fortis, in the form of a structure called DBFM Scholen van Morgen sa/nv. The programme covers the design, construction, financing and 30-year maintenance of 182 school building projects. Every ‘School of Tomorrow’ is a unique project, based on local needs and vision, and complies with all modern requirements in terms of sustainability, comfort and flexibility.

Background to the programme

Due to a major shortfall in resources for school infrastructure, the Flemish government went in search of an alternative way to shorten the long waiting list. This resulted in the launch of a PPP project for a catch-up operation on school infrastructure, which was laid down in a decree in 2006.

After issuing a public tender to select the private partner, the government awarded the catch-up operation to the then Fortis Group in 2009. Subsequently, the public and private partners jointly set up DBFM Scholen van Morgen sa/nv, the organisation responsible for co-ordinating the catch-up operation.

In advance, the government had drawn up a list of schools that would be given access to this unique programme. That is how a closed portfolio was drawn up, with 165 projects relating to 200 school buildings, 90% of which would be new-built and 10% comprising renovation projects. Next, in July 2016 17 additional projects were selected to participate in the programme. Because of the reduction in VAT for school-building, from 21% to 6%, 160 million euro became available for extra school building projects within the Scholen of Morgen programme. This brings the total number to 182 new-built and renovation projects.

The schools are built according to the DBFM formula. This means that DBFM Scholen van Morgen sa/nv stands for the Design, Build, Finance and the 30-year Maintenance of the school buildings. During this period of 30 years, the school board pays an annual availability fee. After this period, the building is transferred to the school board without any additional costs.

You will find here an overview of the 182 projects, with the construction planning and the architects and building contractors.

​Partners in the programme

The actual shareholders of DBFM Scholen van Morgen sa/nv from the public sector are AGIOn (the Agency for School Infrastructure) and the Flemish Region. The private shareholders are BNP Paribas Fortis and AG Real Estate.

As the delegated developer, AG Real Estate COPiD is responsible for the operational completion of the programme. The delegated developer organises the entire design and construction process and maintenance during 30 years for each individual school. To this end, it uses 63 teams of architects and over 20 contractors. The delegated developer is also responsible for communicating with all stakeholders.

Team Vlaams Bouwmeester is an important operational partner for advice during the design phase and the choice of design.

Scholen van Morgen is a cross-network construction programme. The educational umbrella organisations GO!, Katholiek Onderwijs Vlaanderen, OVSG and POV provide a valuable input during the execution of the projects.

BNP Paribas - Fortis

Katholiek Onderwijs Vlaanderen

GO! Onderwijs van de Vlaamse Gemeenschap

Team Vlaams Bouwmeester