Luxembourg's Ministry of Education, Children and Youth has announced that the school dropout rate rose to 8.2% during the 2020/21 academic year.
A new report published by the Education Ministry revealed that, after two consecutive years of decline, the number of pupils leaving Luxembourg secondary schools without a diploma or certification rose in 2020/21.
The school dropout rate returned to the level of 2016/17: in 2016/17, the dropout rate was 8.15% (1,720 pupils); in 2020/21, it was 8.20% (1,736 pupils).
Nevertheless, the Education Ministry recalled that the dropout rate remained below the 10% threshold set as a target by the European Union (EU) as part of its "Europe 2020" strategy.
Moreover, the percentage of pupils who dropped out during a school year, but who resumed training the following school year, has increased very markedly since 2018/19. This increase is even more marked among young people aged sixteen to eighteen. This increase in the re-enrollment rate is attributed to the efforts of the various school services and the collaborations between these services.
Not considering school dropouts who re-enrolled the following school year, the number of effective dropouts was exceptionally low in 2019/20 (6.92%) and returned to a level comparable to previous years in 2020/21.
The local branches of the National Youth Service (Service national de la jeunesse - SNJ) carry out the individual follow-up of school dropouts, provided they manage to reach them. In 2020/21, the SNJ contacted and offered their support to 1,293 affected young people.
According to the report, certain groups of pupils are at greater risk of dropping out:
- pupils who have accumulated a school delay of at least two years: this is the case for 60.94% of dropouts;
- male pupils, who represent around 60% of dropouts each year;
- pupils in the third and fourth years of technical secondary education, who represented 52% of dropouts in 2020/21.
The number of voluntary services aimed at supporting school dropouts has increased significantly in recent years (growth of 31.5%). According to the Education Ministry, two phenomena could explain this figure: on the one hand, the SNJ has strengthened its collaboration with school services and thus manages to better reach its target population; on the other hand, more dropouts may have sought an alternative to inactivity in a pandemic-scarred environment where few employment opportunities were available to them.
The number of young people participating in workshops organised by the SNJ also increased by 14%. The number of discovery internships fell by 10% over one year.
The full report is available (in French) at: https://men.public.lu/fr/publications/statistiques-etudes/statistiques-globales/jeunes-decrocheurs-20-21.html
