The pandemic slightly affected the number of enrollments for language courses, down by 10% in the 2020/2021 period, Meisch said in answer to a on Tuesday.

The number of students dropped from 6,217 in 2019-2020 to 5,566 in the year 2020-2021, Meisch said. But this was still above the 2017-2018 year when 4,756 people followed Luxembourgish lessons at the INL.

The language centre, the Luxembourg Life Long Learning Centre and the department of adult education were able to reorganise classes in e-learning mode, and offered vouchers for cancelled lessons.

The ministry has no data on enrollment in classes offered by private language schools.

But, since 1997, cross-border initiative EuRegio organises Luxembourgish classes in the Lorraine department in France collaboration with the education ministry and Syvicol (the syndicate of Luxemburg towns and municipalities) in Audun-le-Tiche, Florange, Villerupt, and Thionville, to name a few.

This offer was used by 440 people last year.

The ministry also organises language courses and provides Luxembourgish teachers to schools in Konz, Saarburg, Schweich and other towns in the border region, where 8,269 people were studied Luxembourgish during the last school year.

The education ministry foresees a collaboration with the Grand Est academic region and the Nancy-Metz academy and organise Luxembourgish distance learning classes for the Grand Est GRETA network, and the institutions organising professional trainings in the healthcare and the HORESCA sectors.

It is also looking at expanding a pilot project of offering Luxembourgish courses through its network of embassies around the globe after a successful trial at the embassy in Paris where 24 people followed an intensive programme between 10 and 14 February last year. Meisch did not reveal which embassies would be offering the courses.