Ministry of Education, Children and Youth Says Goodbye to Retiring First Government Advisor

Nico Meisch, first government advisor to the Ministry of Education, Children and Youth, has retired from his position after more than thirty years in youth service.

A reception was held in his honour on Sunday 28 January 2016, at which Minister Claude Meisch thanked Nico Meisch for the professional and personal commitment he had dedicated to childhood and youth. The Minister also highlighted the efficiency with which Nico Meisch fulfilled the role of first adviser in charge of the coordination of the Childhood and Youth Department.

Nico Meisch was aducated at the Higher Institute of Studies and Educational Research (ISERP) in Luxembourg before obtaining a doctorate in Psychology and Educational Sciences at the University of Innsbruck in 1981. He began his professional career in 1982 at the National Youth Service (SNJ), of which he became Deputy Director in 1993.

In 2000, Mr. Meisch continued his professional career in the Ministry of Family, where he was responsible for the Youth Service until 2009, becoming first adviser to the government in leading the Childhood and Youth division. At the end of 2013, with the reorganisation of ministries under the current government, Nico Meisch moved to the Department of Education, Children and Youth as a cabinet minister and coordinator of the Department of Children and Youth.

Throughout his career, Nico Meisch actively contributed to the development and implementation of youth policies. In Luxembourg, numerous structures and networks for young people, including the youth information centre, emerged under his coordination. At European level, Nico Meisch was also involved as an expert in different committees and working groups of the European Commission and Council of Europe. He has been a founding member of the Centre for Studies on the situation of young people in Europe, created in 1995.

In recent years, Nico Meisch has invested considerably in the field of educatioal quality within teaching and childcare structures, as well as in aid and childhood reform.

The function of the first government adviser in charge of coordination of the Department of Childhood and Youth is now assumed by Manuel Achten.

Photo by MENJE (L-R: Claude Meisch, Minister of Education, Children and Youth; Nico Meisch, first government advisor to the Ministry of Education, Children and Youth; Ralph Schroeder, Policy Advisor 1st class)