Three new specialisations to be introduced in classical secondary education

The Chamber of Deputies on Tuesday approved a draft bill to introduce new specialised courses in upper secondary education. The new specialisations, in Luxembourg commonly known as 'sections', include Section N for entrepreneurship, finance and marketing, Section P for cognitive studies and humanities, and Section R for politics and sustainable development.

The draughtsperson of the bill, MP Barbara Agostino of the Democratic Party (DP), emphasised that these three new specialisations will be offered equally across all of Luxembourg's regions. However, she also stated: "This does not mean that every high school will offer each and every specialisation, but what we are aiming for is a balanced offer in classical high schools across the north, south, and centre."

MP Françine Closener of the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (LSAP) believes that these new specialisations resonate deeply with the pulse of society. However, while acknowledging the recent trend of introducing new sections in Luxembourg's high schools, she questioned how this aligns with the government's plans to phase out classical secondary education sections in favour of a new organisational concept, as outlined in the coalition agreement.

Closener noted: "This concept should first be piloted in a couple of secondary schools before being introduced across Luxembourg. The Education Minister does not see the contradiction in this proposal, which he already stated during a parliamentary commission meeting, but not everyone agrees."

In the same vein, the Greens' MP Meris Sehovic expressed the following concerns: "We question how this government plans to effectively achieve what the CSV has long advocated for here in the Chamber. Namely, to modernise our system without fragmenting it or overburdening it."

For the DP-Education Minister Claude Meisch, the introduction of three new specialisations does not contradict the government's plans to implement a new organisational concept for classical high schools. He asked whether legislators should instead simply refrain from making any changes at all until a pilot project is up and running. He added that any conclusions on the evaluation of a new pilot project will likely only be available in the next legislative period.