The motion was passed in the Chamber of Deputies on Thursday morning, although it was approved only by the ruling parties in government, as opposition MPs criticised aspects of the bill.
The motivation behind the proposal, put forward by Education Minister Claude Meisch, is to reduce the chance of youths leaving school without a diploma. An exemption is however planned for 16-year-olds who have an employment contract.
Myriam Cecchetti, MP for déi Lénk, said the bill had come out nowhere and would not really benefit young people, while Sven Clement of the Pirate Party thought the bill would merely embellish official statistics, rather than addressing reasons behind pupils dropping out of school.
“Often problems start as early as primary school and are dragged from one year to the next, without resolution,” Clement said, adding that reasons for dropouts rarely had anything to do with a pupil’s age.
The current compulsory education age of 16 is broadly aligned with the rest of Europe, with the same age cap implemented in countries including Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and the Netherlands. Luxembourg would however not be unique in delaying the end of compulsory education to age 18, as this is already the case in Belgium, parts of Germany (in some German states it’s 19), France, and Finland, among others.
Where Luxembourg does stand out a bit more is the starting age of compulsory education, which is set to 4 years of age. The median in Europe is 5 years of age, with only Greece, Luxembourg, and Switzerland starting at 4 - and Hungary and France at age 3.
The DP’s Gilles Baum said of the new bill: “It will not achieve our goals if we simply make pupils stay in school for two more years. However, if we focus on their needs and skills, it will help them to decide what they want to do with their lives.”
Baum added that alternatives would be put in place. Each year, between 500 and 600 pupils under 18 leave school, but are unable to find work, for different reasons, including “lack of motivation, the wrong training, health issues or receiving poor advice,” Baum concluded.
Lawmakers will also vote on a proposal to create a new administration in charge of food in schools.
Prior to the bill’s passing on Thursday, we ran an audience poll in this article asking our readers what their position was on the matter. 71% of respondents were in favour, 25% against, and 4% had no opinion.
