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During a press conference held on Friday 19 June 2020, Luxembourg's Minister of Education, Children and Youth, Claude Meisch, confirmed that alternate class groups in primary and secondary schools will merge for the last two weeks of the school year.
Since the reopening of schools in Luxembourg last month (after the COVID-19 related closure), students have been attending school in different groups on alternate weeks in light of the health crisis.
The Education Minister has now announced that traditional class formats will resume from Monday 29 June 2020, although sanitary measures will remain in place. Indeed, students will be encouraged to continue wearing masks on school transport and outside of the classroom. School canteens will remain closed and groups of students will still be separated during break time. The current timetable (08:00 - 13:00) also remains in place.
According to Minister Claude Meisch, the main reason behind the decision to reunite classes was to ensure each student receives a solid foundation for the next academic year.
Physical education classes are also authorised to resume in primary schools, with a preference for outdoor classes where possible. From today, Monday 22 June 2020, school trips are once again permitted, although overnight stays remain unauthorised until 15 July 2020 at the earliest.
According to local media reports, the teacher’s union Féduse has expressed concerns over the decision to merge classes again, especially regarding the implementation of health guidelines.
