Prime minister Xavier Bettel (DP) during his state of the nation speech in October 2021 had announced plans to make daycare free for primary school children. Meisch (DP) on Tuesday delivered further details.
“Every child in Luxembourg has the right to quality education,” he said. “This is how we can provide fair opportunities for everyone.” With public school free, the minister said it makes sense for afterschool care to be free as well, since “it contributes decisively to the development of children and young people.”
The scheme will apply to so-called “maison relais”, “foyer scolaires” and certified childminders, so-called “assistants parentaux”, for children who are attending primary school but require care after hours.
Daycare will remain fee-paying during school holidays.
In addition to offering free afterschool care, the government will be making school lunches free for all children starting September. It had initially foreseen to do so only for children from low-income households but the Council of State, which reviews all draft laws for their compliance with Luxembourg’s constitution, had opposed this differentiation.
As a result, all children and teenagers attending school will receive a free lunch starting the next school year.
The two measures combined will cost around €22m per year. Parliament must approve the changes and Meisch hopes that this will happen before the summer.
To support families, Luxembourg at the start of the year also re-introduced the , adjusting them to inflation, which was stopped in 2006.
Children’s week
Around 7,800 people work in so-called informal education--meaning education outside a structured and formal classroom setting--said Gérard Albers, vice-president of Fedas, a social professions association.
Luxembourg in 2016 introduced a legal framework on informal education that sets out requirements for the sector with a handbook for educators regularly updated, the last edition dating from 2021, to include pedagogical concepts for different age groups and addressing different topics, such as emotional wellbeing, multilingualism, creativity and movement.
Daycare providers are assessed by the national youth service based on these guidelines.
“The future chances of children and young people depend on the quality of the educational offer, and this does not only concern schools. All international studies show that this principle is equally valid for out-of-school education,” said a statement by the ministry.
Luxembourg will host its first-ever children’s week--or “”--from 14 to 20 May during which some daycare providers will open their doors to parents and families. A children’s festival on 14 and 15 May at Neimënster will offer different arts and crafts activities, workshops and performances aimed at children and families.