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Eurydice

EACEA National Policies Platform:Eurydice
National reforms in vocational education and training and adult learning

Luxembourg

14.Ongoing reforms and policy developments

14.3National reforms in vocational education and training and adult learning

Last update: 21 June 2022
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2021

Diversification of VET initial training offer

The ministry of Education, Children and Youth has announced early April that from the start of the new school year by September 2021 new opportunities will be opened in initial vocational training. This means that several courses will be updated, the offer will be expanded and there will be a linguistic diversification of the courses. The development of the educational offer is a key action lever in Luxembourg's national education policy. It is based on the needs expressed by the economic world as well as on the variety of students' profiles.

The new offers include new professional outlooks:

  • e-commerce
  • Agricultural worker
  • Mecatronician in agriculture and civil engineering
  • French-speaking mecatronician
  • Smart buildings & Energies
  • Smart technologies.

For more details and information:

  • fp.men.lu (e-commerce / mecatronician in agriculture and civil engineering / agricultural worker / French-speaking mecatronician / Smart buildings & Energies)
  • st.men.lu (smart technologies)
  • mengschoul.lu (lycées' geographical location).

2020

Financial support for companies training apprentices

The general measures taken by the government in the education sector (see subchapter 14.2) to curb the Covid-19 pandemic also concern vocational education and training (VET) establishments.

Moreover, a financial support for apprenticeships was decided on 18 August 2020 in order to motivate enterprises to keep their apprentices and/or conclude new apprenticeship contracts in spite of the economic difficulties entailed by the crisis.

The aim of this measure is to support professional learning in companies such as to meet future needs of skilled workforce.

The financial support may be awarded in the form of a single lump sum between € 1 500 and € 5 000 per contract, depending on criteria such as the number of apprenticeship contracts in the company, the circumstances in which they were concluded, etc.

More details on amounts, eligibility conditions and obtention procedure, are included in the press release (PDF) from the Education ministry's VET department.

2019

Reform of vocational education and training

With the law of 12 July 2019 (loi du 12 juillet 2019), several ad hoc adaptations have been made to the system of vocational education and training. These changes have been elaborated in close cooperation with the professional chambers. Apprenticeship contract and internship agreement are now included in the Labour Code. As a result, the legal certainty of apprenticeships has been improved. The Labour Code also specifies the content and duration of the apprenticeship contract. Furthermore, it defines the conditions allowing a professional to provide training for a trade. The above-mentioned law also creates a legal basis for the VET steering group, whose mission it is to coordinate the development of vocational training and to validate the curricular work carried out within this framework.

The reform introduces the following changes in vocational education and training:

  • Numerical scores have been reintroduced for assessment (alongside competency-based evaluation) to facilitate the understanding of the assessment and promotion system
  • A compensation system has been adopted in order to enhance the learning opportunities; 'bridges' between different training paths are facilitated
  • Apprentices absent for a valid reason from the test of their final integrated project shall be offered the opportunity to pass the assessment at a second session; similarly, an apprentice who has failed a module will be offered to pass a complementary examination in September
  • The duration of apprenticeship contracts has been extended from one to two years, and the maximum duration has been set
  • In case of an apprentice's longer absence, e. g. for illness or maternity, the contract may be suspended: if needed, the months of absence may be added to the total duration of the apprenticeship
  • Educational innovation projects may be launched, like those existing in general and classical secondary education
  • A model of on-the-job training has been introduced to enlarge opportunities for people active in the labour market.

The reform aims at providing training and work opportunities for all learners at all levels of education. The law will enter into force in two steps: in school year 2019/20, the  first-year classes will be reformed, as well as the study year following the intermediate report; the other study years will follow as from school year 2020/21.