Det er ikke myndighetenes initiativ som ligger bak publiseringen av denne statistikken. Den er fremkommet etter forespørsel fra politisk hold, det vil si Vlaams Belangs Robert Voorhamme.
Almost half of the students in the Antwerp municipal elementary school system are Muslim, an increase of 12% compared with the 2007-2008 school-year. The figures are based on how many students ask to take Islam classes. The data was provided by request of Vlaams Belang from the Antwerp alderman of education, Robert Voorhamme (sp.a)Parents in Antwerp can choose which class their children go to: Catholicism, Protestantism, Orthodox, Anglicanism, Judaism, Islam or secular ethics.Of the 10,743 elementary school students, 4,890 (45.5%) took Islam class this year. Alderman Voorhamme says that the figures mirror the evolution of the composition of the population