Instead of a four-year “traditional” training course to become a teacher, these people can, after their initial training, complete a one-year course to bring themselves up to standard and apply to the Ministry of Education. The University of Luxembourg and the Ministry have unveiled a new bachelor’s degree in teaching for these ‘Quereinsteiger’ (a German word which literally translates to “lateral entrants”). Students who follow the ‘traditional’ university route to becoming a teacher are not at all happy with this announcement.
After the presentation of the new programme, student representatives swiftly concluded that their education had been devalued.
“It’s a slap in the face,” commented Laurent Schmit, a student in his eighth semester of education sciences. For Schmit, the worst part is that someone who has completed three years in a subject related to one of the objectives of primary education has no experience with children. “While I’m sure the new additional year will be rich in learning, I highly doubt it will be comparable to what we will have learned in the four years leading up to a Bachelor of Education,” he said.
The new bachelor’s degree allows for additional internships and training at the start of a career, but it also prohibits students from teaching Cycle 1, i.e., early education and preschool.
At the request of the Luxembourg Socialist Workers’ Party (LSAP), the ‘Quereinsteiger’ system was also debated in the Chamber of Deputies. While the LSAP is not opposed to it, the party raises various concerns, as explained by MP Francine Closener: “When students begin their bachelor’s degree in teaching at the University of Luxembourg, there are substantial differences between, for instance, an art student from England and a sports student from Germany. We are not convinced that this diversity is respected and that two semesters are enough to train them.”
Minister of Education Claude Meisch assured that the University of Luxembourg would continue to pursue its pledge to recruit 180 students per year for its ‘traditional’ bachelor in education sciences.
