Teacher Training Formation to Be Expanded to Southern Luxembourg

On Monday 6 May 2024, Luxembourg’s Ministry of Education, Children and Youth announced that teacher training in general secondary education (GED section) will now also be offered in the South of the country, specifically at the Lycée Bel-Val (LBV), from the start of the 2024/2025 school year.

The National School for Adults (Ecole nationale pour adultes - ENAD), which already organises in-service educator training in Luxembourg City, will also offer it at the Esch-Belval site.

In the short and medium term, the capacity to accommodate educator training at the Lycée technique pour professions éducatives et sociales  (LTPES) in Mersch will also be expanded, the ministry noted.

Luxembourg’s Minister of Education, Children and Youth, Claude Meisch, announced these new features during a press conference on 6 May 2024 in the presence of Astrid Schuller, Director of the LBV, Claudine Muller, Director of LTPES, and Melanie Noesen, Director of ENAD.

Educators, a pillar of society

Educators work in many areas: early childhood, people with specific needs, adolescents and even the elderly. Within the education system, educators are the linchpins in nurseries, schools, relay centres and youth centres, the ministry added.

“The profession of educator is today more than ever an important and attractive profession, not only in the field of education but in general for living together in Luxembourg. It’s a profession of the future. It is therefore important to invest in and develop the training of educators,” highlighted Minister Meisch.

The extension of the capacity to accommodate teacher training is planned in the government program, as are measures which will require a strengthening of educational staff. Thus, a second speaker for children in cycle 1 of primary education alongside teachers as well as the adaptation of the supervision ratio in education and reception structures should make it possible to respond even better to the individual needs of every child, according to the ministry.

Three training sites: Esch-Belval, Mersch and Luxembourg

Educator training, which begins in 2nd grade (2nd GED, respectively 2nd GEA in on-the-job training) allows students to obtain two diplomas: the end of secondary school diploma after successful completion of a 1st GED class (or 1st GEA in on-the-job training) and the educator's state diploma after successful completion of an additional year, called the final year (or 1st SGED class, respectively 1st SGEA class in on-the-job training).

From the start of the 2024/2025 school year, educator training will be offered on three sites in the Grand Duchy. The ministry added it is continuing to make the school offering more regional to improve its accessibility.

Bel-Val High School

The LBV will start at the start of the school year with two 2nd GED classes which will accommodate around fifty students. The training will be offered in German and organised in the Terres-Rouges building, in central Esch-Belval.

In this same building classes from the Social Sciences section (GSO) of this secondary school will also be hosted. These prepare for professional life or higher studies, particularly in the fields of human and social sciences.

From the start of the 2025/2026 school year, Lycée Bel-Val will also offer educator training in French. Training capacity will change depending on demand.

Technical secondary school for educational and social professions

LTPES has been offering educator training for 50 years. At the start of the 2023/2024 school year, 267 students began their educator training in the 2nd GED class. The 1st GED classes have 298 students, and that of the 1st SGED have 227.

The capacity to accommodate LTPES educator training will also be strengthened in the short and medium term. Analyses to implement these classes are underway.

National School for Adults

Since the 2015/2016 school year, ENAD has been offering on-the-job educator training to people aged 21 and older. The training is aimed at adults without recognised professional qualifications for the profession of educator, but already active in the educational or social field. Admission is based on application. 33 candidates are currently continuing their studies in the 2nd GEA class.

The capacity to accommodate educator training at ENAD will also be extended from the start of the 2024/2025 school year with the offer of on-the-job educator training in German on the Belval site. From the start of the 2025/2026 school year, ENAD will also offer training in French in Belval.

Three years of training, two diplomas

The 2nd GED class of general secondary education is accessible to any student who has passed a 3rd class (in classical or general secondary education). Conditional admissions are possible on file.

Full-time training in the GED section includes extended internships as part of the curriculum and is structured around four axes: cultures, socialisation, communication and citizenship education; educational and social intervention within the framework of development and training processes; organisational and institutional development and personal development.

After obtaining their general secondary school diploma, students can complete their studies with an additional year to obtain a state educator diploma.

On-the-job training

The structure of on-the-job training for educators (two years of general education and a final year) is similar to that of full-time training. Theoretical courses during school periods extend over sixteen hours spread over two consecutive days per week.