Collaboration between schools and the Maison Relais is becoming increasingly important, but what would such a collaboration look like and how feasible is its implementation?
It's been almost twenty years since the concept of the Maison Relais was introduced in Luxembourg and today, they have become an indispensable part of the educational system: around 70% of parents currently rely on after-school care or care outside of normal school hours.
With the Maison Relais being such an integral part of the system, the question now arises how the cooperation between schools and the Maisons should look like as the ministry aims to bridge the gap between the two more. How would this cooperation differ from existing all-day schools?
Currently, there are three all-day schools in Luxembourg. The first one opened in 2006 at a time where the Maison Relais were first being introduced. Formal and non-formal education were still largely separate. Therefore, all-day schools, where school attendance is expected from 8am until 3.40pm were in many ways the forerunners of mixing formal and non-formal education, something that the ministry now hopes all schools can implement. With children at all-day schools spending almost 40 hours a week at school, teachers and educators set a precedent of working closely together to combine all facets of education.
However, according to Alex Folscheid, the Ministry of Education's First Government Councillor, the all-day school model will not be further replicated. The ministry will be focusing on further improving the integrated model, where the Maison Relais and schools are managed together. However, past experiences have shown that this model often comes at the expense of non-formal education.
"School always comes first. When it comes to preparing for an exam, when it comes to talking to the parents, school is always more important to them - and certainly also to the teachers but also to non-formal educators. So we decided to continue to think in terms of the this hybrid model where we have two strong partners: formal education and non-formal education cooperate and work together as one team and make sure that one will not take over the other," Alex Folscheid explained.
An example of what the ministry envisions for all schools in Luxembourg to adopt is the Dudelange project "Lenkeschléi". A so-called 'educational house' with many different functional rooms, which can be used both during and outside of school hours. Attendance outside of regular school hours remains optional here.
A close collaboration with the Maison Relais would clearly be an asset for staff and pupils alike, explains Mim Schütz, teacher and President of the Lenkeschléi school committee. On the other hand, it would also bring several limitations:
"For example, we cannot hold meetings at lunchtime, because we would like our representatives from the cooperation between basic schools and childcare and education services (SEA) to be there. However, that is their busiest hour (...) which means for us that the office will hold the meeting on Mondays at 4pm. We also organise plenary sessions. Whereas other schools probably would do them at noon or on a Tuesday or Thursday afternoon, we can't, so they take place on Saturday mornings. So yes we have some constraints that other schools might not have but here you know what you're getting yourself into and what you are working for," Mim Schütz explained.
But some questions still stand: Is this ambitious vision implementable within regular working hours? And is it transferable to schools that do not have a shared building with the Maison Relais?
