President of the parent association at the European School I in Kirchberg (Apeel1) John Coughlan announced in an email to parents on Friday that the Board of Governors of the European Schools adopted a series of measures for improved financial and contractual terms.

“The European Investment Bank played a crucial role in this decision by offering to cover the difference in the cost of implementing these measures for the two European Schools in Luxembourg,” he wrote.

The parents’ associations had launched a petition earlier in the spring, listing a draft of proposals aimed at making teaching roles more attractive at the schools for seconded and locally-recruited staff.

The key concerns centered around earnings. Seconded teacher salaries were considered too low in relation to the high cost of living in Luxembourg. Meanwhile, Luxembourg has opened a number of state-run international schools, offering considerably higher salaries.

The petition garnered over 3,000 signatures, support which Coughlan said had made a “critical difference”.

“Our efforts convinced a majority of the Board of Governors that anything less than the proposals we supported would not be enough. This was expressly acknowledged in the meeting,” he said.