Students have blocked the Solbosch campus of the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) in Ixelles as part of a growing campaign against higher tuition fees, university underfunding and education reforms that protesters say are making higher education less accessible.
The blockade began early Thursday, October 22, after the student-led collective Gen-Z Contre-Attaque called for the campus to be closed throughout the day. The group brings together students, student organisations, researchers, teachers and university staff.
At the centre of the protest is a sharp increase in the annual tuition fee, known locally as the minerval. The fee has risen from €835 to €1,194, an increase of about 43%. According to figures cited by the protesters from the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, the increase affects around 58% of higher education students.
The protesters argue that the increase, combined with cuts to higher education funding and tighter rules governing student eligibility for public funding, risks making university education increasingly dependent on students’ financial circumstances. Similar concerns have fuelled demonstrations across French-speaking Belgium since the start of the academic year.
Gen-Z Contre-Attaque is also opposing changes to the so-called Paysage decree, which governs students’ academic progression. The group describes the reform as favouring selection over student support. It is also protesting rising public transport costs and what it considers excessive police intervention during recent demonstrations.
The collective has called on ULB to cancel classes during the blockade and end outsourcing, particularly in cleaning services. Teachers and researchers participating in the action are also expected to hold public classes at the protest site.
The Solbosch blockade follows several weeks of student mobilisation in Belgium. Hundreds of students marched through Brussels in September against rising education costs, while demonstrations in October have spread to other cities and, at times, resulted in confrontations with police.
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The latest action at ULB highlights the growing resistance among Belgian students to higher education costs and austerity measures, with protesters warning that rising fees could further widen social inequalities in access to university education.
