Education in Luxembourg is multilingual and consists of fundamental education, secondary education and higher education. It is overseen by the Ministry of National Education, Children and Youth. From an early age, students are introduced to Luxembourgish, French, and German languages. The system includes a fundamental education that spans from ages 4 to 11, followed by secondary education, which is divided into classical and general streams based on students' academic performance and career interests.
Fundamental education Fundamental education (enseignement fondamental) consists of preschool and primary school. It is obligatory from the age of 4 onwards and is composed of 4 cycles instead of school years: 1st cycle: children aged 3–5 (at the beginning of the year) 2nd cycle: ages 6–7 3rd cycle: ages 8–9 4th cycle: ages 10–11 This system was introduced in the law of 21 January 2009.
Secondary education Secondary education lasts 6–7 years, and consists of: Classical system (enseignement secondaire):"Post-primary education" . luxembourg.lu. Retrieved on 3 November 2013. Geared towards a university education. It offers a general, all-round education. The objective is for the students to acquire fundamental knowledge of human sciences, literature, mathematics and natural sciences Technical system (enseignement secondaire technique): Emphasis more on vocational education. It may, however, also allow access to university studies. It is divided into 4 régimes:"Organisation". Ministère de l'Éducation nationale et de la Formation professionnelle. Retrieved on 3 November 2013. General régime (régime classique equivalent and allows access to university studies; replaced by the régime technique) Technician training régime (50% theoretical and 50% practical; allows access to higher technical studies) Professional régime resulting in a Certificate of technical and professional aptitude (CATP) (75% practical and 25% theoretical) Preparatory régime, for those who have not yet fulfilled the requirements of fundamental education Schools of secondary education (that is, aimed towards university education) are called Lycées (or, colloquially, Lycée classique), while schools of secondary technical education are Lycées techniques. Some Lycées offer both types of education. The oldest Lycée in the country is the Athénée de Luxembourg, established in 1603. For a long time, it was also the only secondary school.
32 public Lycées and 5 private Lycées teach the state curriculum. Out of these, the following 4 have a special status to use innovative teaching techniques, while still using the public curriculum: Lycée Ermesinde, an all-day school"Offre scolaire". Ministère de l'Éducation nationale et de la Formation professionnelle. Retrieved on 4 November 2013. Schengen Lycée, a bi-national school in Perl, Germany Sportlycée, for pupils engaging in sport at a high level École de la 2e chance (School of the second chance), for adolescents or adults who have left the school system without a certification
Higher education
Higher education in Luxembourg is dominated by the University of Luxembourg, the only fully-fledged university in Luxembourg. It was founded in 2003 and has locations in Esch-sur-Alzette and Luxembourg City. Miami University Dolibois European Center is an international campus of Miami University (based in the United States), located in Differdange. Open University Luxembourg is a distance learning cooperation between the Luxembourg Lifelong Learning Center, the Luxembourg Chamber of Employees in the private sector, and the Open University (based in the United Kingdom), offering evening or distance learning courses. Luxembourg School of Business is the only accredited graduate business school in the nation.
Higher education is also offered by several lycées techniques, in the areas of business and management, arts, and healthcare. After three years of study, this leads to the award of a Brevet de technicien supérieur (BTS). Since 2013, the Lycée classique d'Echternach offers classes préparatoires for the French grandes écoles.
Private and international schools The vast majority of schools are state-run and free. However, some non-public schools exist. Some of these teach the same curriculum as state schools for the same diplomas, but charge tuition. Others teach foreign curricula and award foreign qualifications.
Among secondary schools, the following private schools teach the state curriculum and receive state subsidies: École privée Marie-Consolatrice École privée Sainte-Anne École privée Fieldgen Lycée Privé Émile Metz École privée Notre-Dame Sainte Sophie Another five private schools teach a different curriculum, and receive fewer subsidies: Waldorf School (teaches towards the International Baccalaureate) St. George's International School (teaches the National Curriculum of England, Wales and Northern Ireland)"International schools" . luxembourg.lu. Retrieved on 3 November 2013. International School of Luxembourg (teaches towards the International Baccalaureate) Lycée Vauban: Lycée francais du Luxembourg (teaches the French national curriculum) École privée Grandjean The European schools are public schools, in the sense that they accept (for free) the children of European Union civil servants, and those whose parents work for other organisations with some special agreement. Other parents may also send their children, spaces permitting, but must pay tuition. They consist of European Schools I and II, and award the European Baccalaureate.
Multilingualism
Tri-lingualism is a feature of the state education system, and of Luxembourgish society in general.
From pre-school onwards, Luxembourgish is spoken with the children. For the large number of foreign children in the country, this may be their first exposure to Luxembourgish. From the age of 6, children are taught to read and write German."Languages" . luxembourg.lu. Retrieved on 3 November 2013. The year after, French is introduced, while the language of instruction is German.
In secondary school, German is the vehicular language in the Lycées techniques, and in the lower years of the Lycées classiques. From the age of 15, however, French is used in Lycées classiques. English is added as a further obligatory language in all secondary schools. In Lycées classiques, pupils may optionally also choose to take lessons in Latin, Spanish or Italian. The number of hours per week devoted to language teaching at all levels of school is high, at 50% of teaching time.
Similarly, for the University of Luxembourg, one of its defining features is its "multi-lingual character": it uses English, French and German.
History The history of education in Luxembourg is closely linked to that of the Athénée de Luxembourg: in addition to being the oldest, and for a long time the only, secondary school in the country, it was also the home of Luxembourg's fledgling higher education courses for a while. It was founded as the Jesuit College (Collège des Jésuites) in Luxembourg city in 1603, and from this it derives its nickname "Kolleisch". When the Jesuit order was abolished by the Pope in 1773, it became a Royal College, staffed by the secular clergy instead of Jesuits. The French occupation from 1795 to 1814 put an end to its activities."L'Athénée – "de Kolléisch"" . Athénée de Luxembourg. Retrieved on 3 November 2013.
An École centrale was created in its place from 1802, renamed an École Secondaire in 1805. It became a Collège communal in 1808, then a Gymnasium after Napoleon's defeat. It was renamed the Athénée Royal in 1817. That same year, the cours supérieurs (called cours académiques from 1824) were founded: these taught metaphysics, logic, physical sciences and mathematics, and were intended to compensate to an extent for the lack of a university in Luxembourg. Around the 1830s, the time of the Belgian Revolution, a distinction started to be made in the higher school years of the Athénée, between the "gymnasium," for those intending to attend university, and the "middle school" (école moyenne), later the industrial and commercial school, for everyone else.
Belgian Revolution
In 1830, most of Luxembourg (with the exception of the capital) sided with the Belgian Revolution against the Dutch King William I. The King-Grand Duke therefore sought to prevent young Luxembourgers from attending Belgian universities, which were hotbeds of anti-Dutch revolutionary sentiment. Belgian academic degrees were no longer recognised in Luxembourg from 1832, and an 1835 decree forced Luxembourgish students to study exclusively in the states of the German Confederation. This Germanisation policy continued with the Friedemann reform in 1837, which had the goal of turning the Athénée de Luxembourg into a preparatory school for German universities, and abolished the academic courses that had existed there since 1817, depriving Luxembourg of its embryo of higher education.
When the country became independent in 1839 (while remaining under personal union with the Dutch king), it needed its own administrative and political institutions: one major problem was the education of future elites, who would replace the foreign functionaries and play a key role in society. William I's measures of 1835 and 1837 had oriented the education system towards Germany, but the specific geographical nature of the country also required links with French-speaking countries. The professors of the Athénée demanded a reform of secondary education and the re-establishment of the academic courses.
William II came to the throne in 1840, ending his father's policies of reaction and Germanisation. The Constitution of 1841 allowed a free choice of universities, and laid the foundation for an education policy that took account of the specificities of the country. The coming reform was supported by the liberals, but opposed by the advocates of the Friedemann reform. While it was generally agreed that establishing a fully-fledged university in the Grand-Duchy was not viable, the question of how to organise higher education was a divisive one. As in other areas, the Luxembourgers examined the neighbouring countries's systems to determine the best course to follow. The clerical faction was in support of the German system, while the Belgian model had liberal support. This latter system entrusted university examinations to a jury of professors as well as learned and reputable men drawn from different parts of society, and this was the system eventually chosen by Luxembourg. It was clear that, far from just being a demonstration of academic knowledge, degrees were seen as a test of one's ability to exercise public office, and therefore it was only seen as fitting that they should be brought under tight state control. For the government, academic examinations were a matter of national sovereignty, which could not be entrusted to foreign universities. Automatically recognising foreign diplomas was out of the question.
The authorities decided, as a minimum, to re-establish the cours supérieurs at the Athénée, which were, however, just a pale imitation of higher education. The Luxembourgish state thereby gave itself the prerogative to confer academic degrees.
Organic law of 1848