Second, Third Academic Terms Merged, Final Year Exams to Go Ahead

Following the announcement that schools and childcare facilities in Luxembourg will remain closed until 4 May 2020, Claude Meisch, Minister of National Education, Childcare and Youth, held a press conference this afternoon presenting the government's latest education measures in detail.

Education Minister Claude Meisch began by recognising that the past three weeks have seen teachers, students and parents navigate uncharted waters in response to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak and resulting school closures. He thanked all those involved for their continued "commitment and flexibility", stressing the importance of working together during these challenging times to ensure that this school year is not "lost".

Discussing the tools that have assisted teachers, students and parents in their transition to distance teaching and learning, Claude Meisch highlighted the usefulness of new technologies and digital tools. He added that these tools, and the accompanying skills, should continue to play a role in education even after schools resume activity as normal. 

Easter Holidays

With schools and childcare facilities now staying closed until 4 May at the earliest and the Easter holidays starting this weekend, the Education Minister recalled that the next two weeks remain a recreational period for teachers and students alike. After this, all efforts will continue to be made to guarantee the continuity of teaching and learning for the duration of the school closures. Therefore, students will regularly and actively participate in distance learning from 20 April to 3 May 2020.

School year completion

Claude Meisch went on to stress that the shared ambition in the education sector was to successfully complete the academic year, ensure continued learning and thus prepare students for the next year, starting in September. In this context, the Ministry of National Education, Children and Youth, in consultation with all stakeholders in the field, has drawn up a plan ensuring the certification and the coordinated closure of the 2019-20 school year for all students. In all cases, each student will have the opportunity to complete their school year and move on.

Minister Meisch added that teaching will focus, both during the school closures and after the resumption of classes, on the essential content necessary for the continuation of the curricula of the following academic year. Such a decision was taken to give all pupils a fair chance to progress in their education.

Merge of 2nd and 3rd terms

In addition, the Education Minister announced that the second and third academic terms have been merged into a single reference period. Consequently, grading and evaluation will be based on the first and second terms. No class assignment will take place during the school closures. 

Primary school evaluations

The "orientation" tests for pupils transitioning from primary to secondary education have been abolished. Instead, the decision of whether a pupil should go to a classic or general secondary school will be based on the pupil's academic performance during cycle 4, the intermediate assessments of cycle 4 and information from the psychologist, if the parents have opted for his service. Orientation interviews, in which the class teacher and pupils' parents make a joint orientation decision, remain in place. School registrations will be made between 29 June and 3 July 2020. 

In addition to the merge of the second and third academic terms, parent-teacher interviews on the second term interim results have been cancelled. Each pupil will receive a results summary for the period from 6 January to 15 July 2020 (i.e. the merged reference period). For pupils who pass to the next cycle, an end of cycle results summary will also be drawn up at the end of the school year.

Secondary school evaluations

The merged second and third terms in secondary schools make up the reference period from 6 January to 9 July 2020. The academic calendar remains unchanged for secondary schools with a semester-based schedule.

For students in the first to penultimate year of classical or general secondary education (7th to 12th grade), distance education will focus on essential content in languages, mathematics and, for the upper classes, the specialisation subjects of the different sections. During the school closures, teachers will regularly give each student constructive feedback on the progress made and where there is room for improvement. When normal classes resume, the content covered in the context of distance education will be consolidated in the classroom and homework in class will be organised in each of these disciplines. To reward students' participation in distance learning activities during the school closures, teachers may increase the average marks obtained in each of these disciplines by 1 to 4 points.

In the other disciplines, distance education will focus on promoting students' independent work, such as the production of thematic files and projects in relation to essential topics. After classes resume, students will review this work with their teachers and have the opportunity to rework it. The works will then be evaluated by a numerical score.

Students in their last year of classical or general secondary education will pursue distance education that focusses on subjects needed for their future studies (e.g. at university). They will receive regular feedback from their teachers. The final exams are set to start as planned on 25 May 2020 and will take place according to the original schedule. Claude Meisch confirmed that there was enough space and personnel in schools to ensure that these exams could go ahead within the sanitary restrictions. The examination questionnaires will relate exclusively to the subject dealt with in class; they will therefore not relate to the contents treated within the framework of distance education. The examination programmes for all disciplines have been adapted and will be published on the eschoolbooks.lu website from 6 April 2020.

The final marks for the last year of secondary school will be based one-third on the students' annual average marks and two-thirds on the marks obtained on the exam. However, school year results will not be taken into account if this is to the detriment of the students. The decision criteria for admitting, adjourning or refusing students remain unchanged.

Students with special needs

The Education Minister expressed particular concern over the care of vulnerable students who are unable to follow distance education and students with special needs. In this context, individual and ad hoc supervision may be offered to these students in compliance with the protection instructions issued by the health authorities.

Indeed, distance education risks having a negative impact on the most disadvantaged and vulnerable students. To avoid students being isolated at home and not participating in distance education, a systematic procedure will be put in place at the national level. This will make it possible to clearly identify this target population and support the pupils concerned with a series of measures. Claude Meisch recalled that: "A chain is only as strong as its weakest link".

Teachers are therefore asked to report to their administration all students who do not participate in distance education and who have not been reachable. The school principals will then use all the resources at their disposal to reach the students in question and their parents. More specifically, support teams will be authorised to establish direct and punctual contact with the students concerned while respecting the health instructions of the Department of Health. This also applies to children with special needs insofar as the continuity of therapy, rehabilitation or diagnosis depends on it. An online learning assistance service is also offered through the helpline 8002 9090. After classes resume, additional resources will be allocated to schools to provide support to students who need it, during or outside of class hours.

Vocational training

The same principles apply to vocational training establishments, that is to say content is reduced to the essentials and virtual material is available to guarantee continued learning/training. Apprentices are also exempt from the second semester management modules; these modules are therefore acquired.

For students in final classes, an exemption is granted for all internship modules that cannot be assessed. For all other classes, students benefit from an exemption for all internship modules that should have been completed between 16 March 2020 and the end of the school year. Similarly, the duration of the final and intermediate projects will be adapted and the projects will only relate to the material treated until the end of the first semester of the 2019-20 academic year. The terms of the integrated projects will be communicated as soon as possible.

The deadline for signing new apprenticeship contracts will be extended beyond 31 October 2020.

Regarding the subjects to be addressed after the Easter holidays, an important part will come back to theoretical teaching. Practical instruction will be provided remotely by digital tools where possible. The evaluation methods will be adapted to the constraints of the current situation. After resumption of the courses, each module will be evaluated as far as possible. 

Education Minister Claude Meisch added that the authorities were preparing for different scenarios, that is to say either the reopening of schools and other educational establishments on 4 May 2020 as planned or the eventual continued closure. In any case, the main goal remains the completion of the academic year.