Children in Luxembourg who are four years of age by 1 September are required by law to attend school. Compulsory schooling lasts 12 consecutive years.

“We understand that by law children are obliged to go to school. However, the pandemic has also brought about extreme measures and parents should not be penalised for taking steps to protect their children during extraordinary times,” the author of the petition, Ana Sofia Brás de Azevedo, said.

Education minister Claude Meisch has insisted that schools do not present a high-risk environment and that the number of infections among students and teachers reflect the spread of the virus in society in general.

While between 23 and 29 November, there were 700 cases of coronavirus in Luxembourg’s schools, this climbed to 758 the following week and stood at 890 the week of 7 December. The government also introduced a new tier in its assessment.

While there were initially only three scenarios--from isolated cases to suspected infections among pupils and teachers from the same group--the ministry added a fourth scenario that reflects wider contagion within the school community and between different classes.

The government has faced criticism from opposition parties but also teacher unions over not taking additional measures to contain the virus within schools. Older secondary school students are currently learning through hybrid remote and classroom teaching.

Schools have been told to prepare to remain closed during the first week of January, but the government has yet to make a final decision on whether it will extend the break as other countries have done.

Germany, for example, closed schools mid-last week to allow pupils to isolate prior to any family gatherings at Christmas.

Meisch in parliament last week acknowledged delays in contact tracing at schools after reports that it took schools days or even longer to inform parents that their child had been exposed to a person who tested positive, with additional delays to receive prescriptions to get the child tested.

“It is understandable that some parents do not comply with the simple isolation of classes, because the risk persists in a contaminated environment,” the petition said, explaining that many parents fear sending their children back to school.