2021

Extension of state-funded European schooling

Resuming the enlargement of the geographical distribution of public European schooling, the government council approved on 10 March 2021 the draft bill for the creation of a fifth accredited European school in the centrally-situated city of Mersch. This decision contributes to the implementation of the government programme 2018-2023, which foresees that the offer of international and European classes shall be extended, with priority given to the centre of the country. As a response to the needs of an increasingly heterogeneous school population, the national education system has been committed for years to expanding, diversifying and making its school offer more flexible. A priority objective of the State is to provide a public education system in which every student has a chance to succeed, regardless of the language spoken at home. This is important for the sake of social cohesion, but also to prevent educational failure and school drop-out. The new school École Internationale Mersch Anne Beffort (EIMAB) opened its doors at the beginning of the 2021/22 school year, at first only for secondary classes. The primary school, a full-day maison-relais, and a boarding school will follow in 2022. EIMAB thus will be the first public international school in Luxembourg to offer boarding. EIMAB's offer will also include classes for academically weaker students, namely classes of the international preparation track offering several working languages, as well as welcome classes and professional initiation. The evolution of pupil enrolment figures, totalling in school year 2020/21 some 2 450 pupils enrolled in the current four accredited European schools, confirms that there is a real need for public European provision. At the press conference presenting the new EIMAB, the ministry of Education, Children and Youth announced that a sixth accredited European school is due to open by school year 2022/23 in Luxembourg city.

2020

Secondary education: organisation of the current school year by semesters

For all grades in secondary education, the school year 2020/21 has been reorganised by semesters instead of term subdivision. The grand-ducal regulation of 14 December 2020 has amended the modified grand-ducal regulation of 31 July 1980 to this effect. This arrangement is part of the measures decided by the ministry of Education in November 2020 to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.

National measures related to the Covid-19 pandemic

In the wake of the rapid surge of Coronavirus infection cases from March 2020, Luxembourg's government took exceptional measures in a number of areas, among which the educational sector. The government's objective is to ensure that all citizens have effective and free access to education, especially those with less opportunities and those subject to compulsory schooling. Education is legally enshrined as a right and obligation. Thus the State has to offer ongoing educational provision as part of its mission as a public service. From the beginning, the government has been defining successive measures while taking stock of the evolution of the current health situation. The legislation has been gradually adapted accordingly. Ongoing learning could be pursued mainly thanks to distance education and digital technology.

1- Organisational measures were taken by the government to stop the spread of the virus:

• Emergency measure at the start of the crisis: temporary closure of primary and secondary education establishments in Luxembourg (16 March to 19 April 2020) and schooling via distance learning
• Transitional measures: among other temporary arrangements, resumption of face-to-face schooling defined until the end of the school year (e.g. derogation [loi du 20 juin 2020] from the primary school law: specifying that pupils will be distributed into groups A and B; organisation of applicable time schedules and student support measures)
• Activities' resumption arrangements through a strategy of gradual return to classroom teaching:
  • Secondary education and VET: resumption of face-to-face classes for final grades (4 May 2020), subsequently for all grades (11 May 2020)
  • Preschool and primary education and childcare structures: resumption of classes and activities (25 May 2020) according to a rotating system of alternating groups 'A' and 'B'
  • Full-sized class groups reconstitution (as of 29 June 2020)
  • New school year beginning on the normal date (15 September 2020) under the provisions set by the ministry of National Education, Children and Youth (MENJE) for the start of the school year 2020/21.

According to the analysis report (PDF) published by the ministry of Health, the MENJE and the ministry of Higher education, the school environment is not deemed to be more conducive to the spread of the Coronavirus than other current situations in society.

2- Educational and psychological support measures aimed at adapting the environments of formal and informal education and emotional well-being to the presence of the virus:

• Awareness-raising campaign '@Home' (as of 23 March) launched by the government to support people living in isolation by means of simple lifestyle routines and structure
• Home schooling help for parents and teachers (from the beginning of the suspension of face-to-face learning), including:

  • Telephone helpline in 5 languages (Luxembourgish, French, German, Portuguese and English) for psychological and educational questions, offered by the psychosocial professionals from the Centre for educational psychology and guidance (CePAS)

  • Website for home schoolingschouldoheem.lu offering learning activities, remediation and educational entertainment for different levels: pre-primary, primary and secondary education, VET and adult education
  • Daily contests for pupils to boost participants' motivation to learn and win prizes
• Survey on distance learning, launched on 30 March 2020 for teachers and pupils' parents (4 265 teachers and 12 945 parents participating). The survey findings (PDF) have shown that 90% of the teachers responding and 87% of the parents considered they mastered well enough the challenge posed by this new learning situation. More than 7 000 remarks and suggestions communicated in the answers to open questions will be helpful for the further planning.

3- Temporary legislative arrangements:

• Ad hoc legal provisions have been decided for the end of the 2019/20 school year to adapt the study plans and criteria for pupil promotion in school education. Given the fact that classes could resume before the end of the academic year, assessments have been carried out. The pupils could take their tests in different subjects and obtain end-of-year reports. This was of particular importance for the secondary school leaving diploma.
• In higher education, exemptions have been made to extend the study duration officially planned, so that the students may remain eligible for State financial aid (loi du 17 juillet 2020 portant modification de la loi modifiée du 24 juillet 2014 concernant l’aide financière de l’État pour études supérieures)
• Organisation of remedial courses offered from 31 August to 11 September to pupils in primary school cycles 2, 3 and 4 as additional activities to their study plans (règlement grand-ducal du 19 août 2020)
• Financial support to companies engaged in VET training, in the form of a single flat-rate bonus (prime forfaitaire). This arrangement aims at supporting vocational apprenticeships threatened by the economic difficulties resulting from the Covid-19 crisis.

The measures put in place by the government will keep to be regularly reassessed and adapted to the evolution of the situation.

'Simply Digital': a strategy for the development of digital competences in school education

In February 2020, the ministry of Education presented its initiative 'Simply digital: future‑oriented competences for strong children' (einfach digital: Zukunftskompetenze fir staark Kanner) to the press. The 'Simply digital' strategy aims at providing learners of all ages with the digital skills they need to be able to cope with the multiple challenges of contemporary life. Digitisation today concerns all aspects of citizens' lives –learning, work, leisure, social and emotional relationships, health, interaction with administrations, etc. It is therefore the teachers' and trainers' task to guide the youngsters' use of digital tools and media and to help them identify how these tools work and how to use them most effectively. The digital strategy for education is being implemented in all schools and education and ECEC structures. At each level of education, it will adapt to the learners' age and personal development. The strategy of digital skills development is related to 5 essential skills (the 5 'C's):

1. Critical thinking
2. Creativity
3. Communication
4. Collaboration
5. Coding.

A pilot lycée is also foreseen, as announced by the 2018-2023 government programme (accord de coalition 2018-2023). This secondary school will open its doors in 2023 in Sanem. Teachers and trainers at all levels of school education will transmit the above‑mentioned 5 skills in a playful approach while fostering the learners' autonomy and active participation, and stimulating their enthusiasm and eagerness to explore solutions. The 'Simply Digital' initiative develops around 3 key projects:

1. General framework for digital skills: the Reference guide for education to and by the media (Guide de référence pour l’éducation aux et par les médias -'Medienkompass') proposes teachers and educators a transversal approach to raise awareness among young people and train them in the use of media at all educational levels. This guide is based on the European Digital Competence Framework for Citizens.
   • Learners will acquire digital skills in a stepwise approach and throughout their full educational pathway. Their progression will be followed up through the markers of 16 media and digital skills (related to 5 skill areas, one of which is 'coding').
2. 'Coding' will be a discipline of its own taught at school:
   • At the level of primary school, which is organised by the ministry of Education, the introduction of the new discipline 'coding' and' use of media' will be monitored at regional level by 15 teachers specialised in digital skills (one per region) as of September 2020.
     • 4th-cycle pupils will get Coding tuition as from the start of school year 2020/21 in the context of the mathematics course; the following school year, Coding will be included transversally in all disciplines taught in cycles 1-3; the objective is to teach children numerical reasoning in a pleasurable way by having them build actions sequences (algorithms) from blocks (e.g. trailer)
     • Elementary school teachers are having the opportunity, since the start of the current school year, to participate in continuous training, exchanges of good practices and test sessions of education materials.
   • In secondary education, a new discipline 'Computer science' will be gradually introduced in the lower classes as from school year 2021/22. The objective is to promote and develop creative approaches related to coding in various fields of application (big data, artificial intelligence, automation, etc.)
3. Awareness-raising campaign on the use of screens at home: since the end of February 2020, the ministry of National Education, Children and Youth and BEE SECURE is implementing the campaign 'Screens in the family' (Les écrans en famille) to promote parents' awareness of a reasonable use of screens in the family setting; brochures and posters in French and German have been distributed to all parents in schools and day care centres.

2019

In the current year there has been no reform in this area.