Test Results Show Pandemic Measures in Schools Had Minimal Affect on Education

On Thursday 21 April 2022, Luxembourg's Minister of National Education, Childhood and Youth, Claude Meisch, and the director of the Luxembourg Center for Educational Testing (LUCET), Antoine Fischbach, presented in Clausen the first results of the school survey Standardised tests (ÉpStan) 2021.

“A minimum chance for the virus and a maximum chance for education” was the objective of the Ministry of Education throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Two years after the start of the health crisis, there has been no significant drop in the academic skills of pupils, the school survey found. This applies to both primary and secondary education.

“For generations, our education system has never faced such a major challenge. The stability of the results is the collective merit of all the actors of the Luxembourg education system, teachers, educators, students and their parents. Together, we have succeeded in maintaining face-to-face lessons for as long as possible, restoring a certain normality, which was important for the well-being of children and young people, and preventing lasting school deficits,” said Minister Meisch during the press conference.

Main conclusions of the ÉpStan 2021

The results of the ÉpStan 2020 had shown that the Luxembourg school system had resisted the first phase of the pandemic relatively well. LUCET's analysis of the 2021 results also does not identify a systematic negative trend that would indicate a general deterioration in skills among students in primary and secondary education in Luxembourg.

High motivation and stable results in primary and secondary

In all cycles of primary school, students generally did well. They were comfortable with face-to-face teaching despite the sanitary measures, and more comfortable than with distance learning at the start of the crisis. In all cycles, the parents reported that despite the health restrictions, the children were as motivated as before the pandemic and had fun going to school. With regard to the ÉpStan 2020, it appears that the pupils of the primary were more motivated in 2021 than during distance learning in 2020.

Overall, skill scores have been fairly stable, even after nearly two years of the pandemic. The deterioration in the oral comprehension of German observed in the 2020 ÉpStans, independently of the socio-economic context, seems at first sight to have been compensated for, thanks to the support of the teaching staff and remedial activities such as the Summerschool or the offers of learning on schouldoheem.lu.

As in primary school, the skill scores of secondary school students remained broadly stable. The motivation of secondary school students was also not affected by the sanitary measures: it was at the same level as during distance learning.

Although the COVID-19 crisis has generally not had a systematic negative effect on student proficiency scores, national school system still faces the same major challenges as before the pandemic. The socio-economic and linguistic context still plays a decisive role in the academic results of pupils: the Ministry of National Education, Children and Youth will implement the recommendations of LUCET and will continue to put in place measures such as the diversification of the school offer, in order to guarantee greater social equity and educational opportunities and thus ensure that all children and young people have the best possible future.