In Luxembourg, all children aged four prior to the start of the academic year have to be enrolled in school. , they also must continually go to school until the age of 18. Ukrainian children, having obtained temporary protection status, will also have to follow this law.
As Luxembourg already struggles with a teacher shortage----the ministry of education has published a draft law on hiring criteria, which will be voted on 31 March.
The proposes hiring 80 members of staff who would serve as intercultural mediators until 31 December 2022. These should help Ukrainian children--most likely deeply traumatised by the war--in their education. In addition, 300 full-time teaching positions and 300 substitute teaching positions are counted in the project. The extra jobs come with a price tag of nearly €30m for 2022.
Currently, nearly 11,000 teachers work in Luxembourg, including 4,500 at secondary level and 6,300 at primary school level.
The hiring criteria for the new staff have also been relaxed temporarily until the end of the year. Teachers need to have had access to teaching positions before and must only to speak one of the three national languages--Luxembourgish, German or French--at B2 level. They don’t, however, need to have five years of professional experience, as normally required. Substitute teachers, for whom the hiring process had been relaxed due to the pandemic, will be exempt of holding a certificate of aptitude until the end of the year.
International or local school
Ukrainian refugee children will mainly be sent to international schools, according to the draft bill, where they will be able to study in English, before adopting a second language such as German or French. Following their initial integration in a so-called classe d’accueil, or welcome class, they will be placed in an international classroom.
Children between 3 to 5 years old will automatically be placed in local schools, whereas older children will be placed in local or international schools according to their parents’ wishes.
Education minister Claude Meisch (DP) also specified that the online courses offered by Ukrainian authorities aren’t counted as mandatory education in Luxembourg, meaning that all children who arrive will have to go through the Luxembourg educational systems available.
A specific course to aid Ukrainian children bridge the gap once they return to Ukraine has also not been mentioned.