Writing about policy and organisation in education in Belgium is no simple matter. This is not just because the education systems organised by different authorities differ considerably one from another, but because Belgium includes different communities which have acquired a large degree of autonomy in education since the constitutional amendments of 1970 and 1980. I should like to start by saying something about these two facts, in order to situate the organisation and tasks of the inspectorate in the right context. As regards the granting of increased autonomy to the communities, reference should be made to the constitutional amendments, as stated above. The national government remains, and so does Parliament as the national legislative body. But an extra legislative body (The Flemish Assembly) has been created for the Flemish community, together with a specifically Flemish government (the so-called Executive). Both bodies have introduced a community perspective into several policy matters which have been placed under their authority. Yet this is only partly true of education. A number of questions continue to be under the jurisdiction of the national authorities, like compulsory education, the main educational structures, diplomas, and salaries. Other questions have become a matter for the communities. Thus the Executive is responsible for steps to improve education, and for the organisation of the inspection services. Although, therefore, as regards the latter, differences can arise between the French-speaking (Walloon) and Dutch-speaking (Flemish) parts of the country, they are not currently very great and, in this article, we will be examining only the situation in Flanders. A second contextual factor is the relative autonomy of the organising bodies. In addition to the State, local authorities (communes or provinces) or private individuals can found schools, and therefore act as such bodies. In 1983-84, 13.4% of pupils attended state schools, 18.9% local authority schools, and 67.7% private schools. In Flanders, these private schools are for the most part Catholic. The relative autonomy of the organising bodies is based on the Belgian Constitution of 1831, which guarantees unlimited freedom of education, as well as the most important education act, that of 29 May 1959 (based on the so-called School Pact, an agreement on education between Belgium's great political families of the time), which guarantees the organising bodies relative autonomy. This results in the State inspectorate having only limited authority in communal, provincial and private schools, as described in Article 24, paragraph 2, 3, of the Act of 29 May 1959. The State inspection to which subsidised schools are subject (communal, provincial and private schools included in the grants system) centres on whether the required subjects are being taught soundly, the level of studies,