On Friday, Luembourg's government met in a cabinet meeting and agreed the details of a new law which will see the teaching of religion in public schools across the Grand Duchy by classes in "Life and Society".

The Life and Society" course will replace the current religious and moral instruction and course of moral and social education. The new course "Life and Society" will be introduced initially in secondary schools starting next school year 2016/2017. It will then be introduce into primary education from the 2017/2018 school year.

Work on developing the future course of "Life and Society" began in 2014 and has been planned in consultation with various interested parties. On 23 March 2015, the Ministry of Education, Children and Youth published a framework document for the development of the new course. The document describes the background, the political objectives, the broad lines and basic principles of the new course. It served as a reference for the working groups in charge of developing teh curriculum.

The new course "Life and Society" will be integrated into school curricula will not be the result of an amalgamation of the two courses it replaces. It aims to gradually bring the students - based on their questions, thoughts and experiences - to identify their own benchmarks and develop their own views. The course will be based on an innovative approach which places the student at the centere, which will focus primarily around social sciences. The teacher will take as a starting point the questions, thoughts and experiences of the student in relation to the environment in which he/she operates daily. It will gradually bring the young people to articulate his/her experiences and his/her quest for meaning in relation to the great questions of humanity and society. Listening to the opinions of others, by confronting other lifestyles than his/hers, the student will learn to develop reflective, critical and independent thinking while respecting the differences between people who have different beliefs.