Following the announcement of a €315 billion education investment plan for Europe on Monday, Luxembourg Minister of National Education, Children and Youth, Claude Meisch, met the following day with a delegation from the LCGB trade union to discuss the potential for a national multilingual education programme which would be offered for 1-4 year olds for free.

Minister Meisch presented the three pillars of the optional educational programme, which would comprise the development of language skills, the establishment of a strong collaboration with families as well as networking with schools, reception facilities and social services. The initiative would see various pilot projects launched for the beginning of the 2016 school year, with a view to developing practive models and empirical evidence ahead of the 2017 introduction of the new programme.

The LCGB was enthusiastic about the project, which would enhance the multilingual development of children aged 1 to 4 by promoting their mother tongue whilst allowing them to familiarise themselves with the language situation of Luxembourg school systems. The aim would be to prepare the child for their social and professional future with a programme which would be provided free of charge and without any social selectivity criteria.

The programme would also allow for the creation of new positions for qualified and multilingual teachers in the early childhood sector, due to its implementation through existing education and hospitality service structures. So as to guarantee equity in the working conditions and compensation of the public and private sectors, the LCGB has called for public sector employees to be placed under the SAS collective labour agreement. The trade union also raised the question of the inclusion of parental assistance, who have so far not been initiated into the steps of the programme, as well as the funding for multilingual educations and the number of places in host structures needed to make the programme accessible for each family.

 

Photo by LCGB (Claude Meisch (centre) with LCGB delegation)