Luxembourg Schools to Remain Open

On Wednesday 4 November 2020, Luxembourg's Ministry of National Education, Children and Youth provided details of the first assessment of dialogue with school stakeholders on the COVID-19 situation in schools, with a willingness to keep schools open.

Between 26 October and 2 November 2020, the Minister of National Education, Children and Youth, Claude Meisch, consulted representatives of the various school stakeholders on the situation of COVID-19 in schools and the sanitary measures in place. During these meetings, which totaled more than 15 hours, the Minister listened to associations of directors as well as unions covering primary education, secondary education and centres of competence in specialised psychopedagogy, national representation of parents and the national student conference. Such exchanges have taken place regularly since the start of the health crisis.

All actors were unanimous on the importance of keeping schools open to ensure young people the right to education and the continuity of learning. The need to adapt the health system in the event that the number of infections remains at a high level was also raised.

The discussions also confirmed that the challenges currently facing schools are essentially organisational in nature. Of particular concern is the timeframe for sending out test requests and keeping classes running after lockdown and quarantine. The Ministry of National Education, Children and Youth is currently working with the Health Inspectorate to remedy several of these difficulties: this concerns in particular the procedure for sending test orders and the adaptation of certain measures of the health system.

The meetings that Minister Claude Meisch had with school stakeholders are part of a broad consultation process on the situation of COVID-19 in schools and childcare facilities.