The Luxembourg Chamber of Employees (Chambre des Salariés) presented new figures on participation in lifelong learning at a press conference on Friday morning, highlighting the growing demand for continuing education in the workforce.
Last year, more than 17,000 individuals took part in training courses at the Luxembourg Lifelong Learning Centre, and a record 333 people obtained bachelor’s or master’s degrees through the centre’s programmes.
Director Sylvain Hoffmann described these results as very positive, yet criticised both political leaders and employers for failing to provide adequate opportunities for staff to pursue further training.
Pointing to the latest Quality of Work Index survey, Hoffmann highlighted that people have increasingly fewer opportunities to upskill within their companies, a trend first noticed in 2014, which is now worsening.
The Chamber of Employees is now calling for further resources to strengthen access to lifelong learning.
In particular, Deputy Director Claude Cardoso argued that the current system, which grants each employee 80 days of training leave over an entire career, is not enough, especially for those who undertake a bachelor’s or master’s degree. For this reason, Cardoso demands an increase in training leave days.
The Lifelong Learning Centre is introducing several new courses for the upcoming academic year, in response to the evolving needs of the labour market.
Notably, a new master’s programme will focus on working with artificial intelligence in the health sector to ensure that technology serves people while maintaining a strong emphasis on human-centred care. Myléna Runge, the centre’s strategy adviser, explains that the idea is to optimise efficiency for routine or less interesting tasks, ensuring that humanity stays at the core.
The new master’s course begins Saturday evening with 14 enrolled students. In addition, a fresh industrial training programme is being launched, concentrating on the automation and maintenance of connected industrial systems.
