Registrations will be opening this March 2016 for a new international public school opening in Differdange to cater to a growing diversity in the student population of Luxembourg.
As Minister for Education, Children and Youth, Claude Meisch, explained at a presentation held Monday, although international educational establishments exist in the central region of the country, the southern part is otherwise lacking.
The new school in Differdange will attempt to bridge this gap, by offering a concept and curriculum aimed at attracting both migrants and other students wishing to gain an international academic background.
Based on the idea of teaching mutual respect between different cultures and to the outside world, the new school will be similar to the European system in its emphasis on multilingual and multicultural education. It will follow the same programmes and criteria for passing the year as other European systems and will also be composed, as is the case in the European Schools of Luxembourg I and II, of half-hour classes for Primary pupils and 45 minute lessons for Secondary students. However, unlike European schools already established in the country, the new École international de Differdange (EIDD) is a public school, meaning that it is open to all pupils with no registration fees.
Students arriving at the school will have to select their language section, from a choice of francophone or anglophone, as well as their 1st and 2nd Languages. L1 can be selected from French, German, English and Portuguese, whilst L2 offers either French, German of English. One of the Languages must be that of the chosen section and L2 must be different from L1. For example, a student who speaks Luxembourgish at home may choose to be in the francophone section, with German as their L1 and French as their L2.
Once they reach Secondary school, pupils will then need to select a second foreign language (L3) from amongst French, German, English and Portuguese. The new school will also differ from current European School criteria in Luxembourg, in that Luxembourgish oral language classes will be mandatory from the beginning of Primary up until the early years of Secondary as a means of facilitating student integration into the country.
The school is expecting to welcome around 1,400 students and will be opening for the beginning of term of the 2016/2017 academic year. For more information, visit www.eidd.lu or contact info@eidd.lu.
