Minister acknowledges staff recruitment challenges

Minister of Education Claude Meisch reflected on these hurdles on Thursday, emphasising that while the pandemic was significant, it wasn't the sole obstacle.

Education policy, as Minister Meisch pointed out, is inherently dynamic, consistently presenting new challenges. One such challenge has been recruiting qualified personnel, an area where substantial progress has been made in recent years, according to Meisch.

Staff numbers and public international schools

In primary schools, the percentage of staff with bachelor's degrees has risen to 96%, a notable improvement from the 87% recorded in 2017. In addition, progress has also been achieved when it comes to numbers, as Minister Meisch noted: "Staff growth has been much stronger than student growth. The number of students grew by 4.1% from 2017 to 2021, while school staff grew by 12%," he stated.

School staff, in this instance, encompasses teachers, educators, but also other professional staff.

Currently, one school employee is responsible for an average of nearly nine pupils, a statistic Meisch proudly touted as "an absolute record" within the OECD.

Minister Meisch also took pride in Luxembourg's public international schools, which have expanded accessibility to students from various backgrounds. He highlighted the shift towards inclusivity in international education, remarking, "today, European schools and other international programmes are open to everyone. Every child has the opportunity to benefit from these curricula. We have opened six international public European schools. We have an international school based on a British curriculum, and we have schools that offer the International Baccalaureate in English."

Nevertheless, Meisch underscored that creating international public schools should not be the only response to student diversity. He suggested that the traditional education system should also explore greater flexibility, a characteristic currently more prevalent in international programmes.

Criticism from the CSV

Critics from the CSV, including Martine Hansen, Co-President of the Christian Social People's Party's (CSV) parliamentary group, contended that Meisch diversified the educational landscape but failed to improve it. Hansen argued that instead of making the teaching profession more attractive, the minister had opted for hiring individuals with related degrees (so-called Quereinsteiger, 'lateral entrants'). The CSV criticised the widening education gap and expressed dissatisfaction with Meisch's approach to homework help and supervision sessions.

Hansen asserted, "he has always sought the easy way out. For example, he has opened a lot of new European schools instead of strengthening our public schools and tackling language teaching there and adapting it. More choice for the pupils. He didn't dare to tackle that. That would have led to discussions."

The CSV MP also voiced disappointment with the Minister's handling of homework help, which she believed fell short of the expectations set forth in the coalition agreement.

Full report by RTL Télé (in Luxembourgish)