Several parents and teaching staff have reacted to a decision taken by the education directorate in Mersch, which sees 6-year-old pupils obligated to wear masks.

Their 5-year-old classmates, meanwhile, will not have to wear face coverings in class. Several concerned parents and teachers have questioned the decision, taken by the regional education directorate for Mersch.

Note: Luxembourg is divided into 15 educational regions, and the one for Mersch (region 12) also encompasses Bissen, Fischbach, Larochette, Lintgen, Lorentzweiler, Nommern, Steinsel and Walferdange.

The Covid legislation states that anyone aged six and above has to wear masks where applicable - i.e. broadly in public places where a physical distance of two metres cannot be guaranteed.

However, a recent Ministry of Education communique states that an exception is made for children aged six who are in "cycle 1". Minister of Education Claude Meisch also recently held a press briefing, in which he confirmed that the mask obligation applies to pupils from cycle 2 and up.

Local guidance in Mersch goes a step further, and a document seen by RTL Today confirms that, in the Mersch encatchment area, no exception is made for 6-year-olds in cycle 1. This creates a situation in which some pupils will have to wear a mask, while their younger classmates will not.

One parent with whom RTL Today spoke confirmed that they had been told that their child would have to wear a mask when they return to school next week. In their class as a whole, only three out of 14 pupils have turned six and will thus have to wear a mask, while their 11 other classmates will not.

While the guidance issued for schools in Mersch states that an exception is indeed made for pupils in cycle 1, it further adds that the exception is not applicable if they are aged six and over. In making this decision, they refer to article 3 of the covid law, which states that that the obligation to wear a mask does not apply to minors under the age of six.

We have reached out to the the Ministry of Education and Mersch education directorate for comment.

19 February update - Mask mandate from “Cycle 2” onwards, confirms Education Minister

On Friday, Claude Meisch issued a statement emphasising that the mask mandate applies from cycle 2 onwards.

The minister said that it would not make sense to have a mask mandate for some children and not for others in the same class.

Masks in schools are seen as a necessary evil as they allow classes to take place in person, despite their inconvenience. Pupils are only allowed to remove them when they are eating or drinking or during physical exercise