80 "RELATING TO CERTAIN ASPECTS OF THE LAWS ON THE USE OF LANGUAGES IN EDUCATION IN BELGIUM" v. BELGIUM (MERITS) JUDGMENT with the linguistic legislation on all points to "declare that it intended" to submit to being inspected: by reason of Section 24 of the Act of 29th May 1959, "the State would refuse to act on the declaration". According to the Commission, this refusal also involves "discrimination contrary to Article 14 (art. 14)": "there would be no serious administrative or financial difficulty in arranging for the inspection of schools in Dutch-speaking areas which provide education in French" or of "Flemish schools in the Walloon area". In actual fact the measure in dispute constitutes one of the means of implementing the policy of the Belgian State which certainly wishes "to encourage the Dutch language and culture in Flanders, but which has exceeded this aim by trying to prevent the spread or even the continuance of the French language in that region". It is true that "pupils with certificates not eligible for homologation" have the possibility of obtaining "wholly valid diplomas by taking a full examination before the Central Board". This "way round" the refusal of homologation is not, however, of much value. The Applicants have shown, and the Belgian Government does not dispute the fact, that the examination in question "is a very dangerous reef to negotiate" and "has serious drawbacks and risks". In any case, the Commission does not consider "the institution of the Central Board" to be a "remedy" worthy of the name, since the refusal of homologation is based solely on the linguistic irregularity of the education followed. In reality the "obligation" to appear before the Central Board represents a "hardship" which is not warranted by "any regard to the general interest" and which, "moreover", does not confer "any privilege on the young Dutch-speaking people who are exempt from it". In any event, those "circumstances which may on occasion mitigate" the effects of the refusal of homologation (Central Board, scholastic emigration, with or without "mixing of education", "non-recognised degrees" etc.) cannot, in the Commission’s opinion, remove the violation, if violation there be, resulting from this refusal. The Commission does not overlook the fact that "fairly large foreign colonies" exist in Belgium and that the law allows them to establish schools where education is given in "Italian, Polish or any other language". The objection raised on this point by the Belgian Government (cf. supra) "is not conclusive", however. It does not take into account the fact that the refusal of homologation applies to certificates issued not only "by schools which do not observe the whole of the linguistic legislation" but also "by private schools recognised and subsidised by the State, or even by official schools, when it is not apparent from the certificates" that their holders "have complied personally with the requirements of the language Acts throughout their secondary schooling". Moreover, the refusal of homologation does not have "the same consequences" for "Belgian citizens" as for "foreign nationals". "The latter, even if they hold valid diplomas