Education Minister Claude Meisch described the upcoming school start as a 'rentrée' of fairness, highlighting steps the government has taken to foster a more equitable education system. He pointed to the Alpha project, which promotes French-language literacy, and the decision to raise the school leaving age to 18 as important advances towards this goal. However, Meisch acknowledged that organisational challenges remain around the implementation of Alpha and announced a new public information campaign in the coming weeks to further explain the project’s aims and structure.
From this rentrée, more secondary schools will offer francophone classes: specifically, 7e classes in French will be available in 17 lycées across the country. Meisch also announced that, as part of a pilot project starting in 2027, three high schools will launch new German-language sections to expand educational options for students.
Minister Meisch expressed concern over the latest results from the Pisa study, noting that over one third of Luxembourg’s 15-year-olds currently lack the basic competencies required to participate fully in society. He argued that these findings justify raising the compulsory school leaving age. The Pisa results will be discussed in detail at the parliamentary Education Committee on 15 September.
