New bachelor's degree for teachers will open this fall
The University of Luxembourg has announced the launch of a new degree program for the academic year of 2023/2024. The program in Pedagogical Education will be able to enroll 240 students this year. Admission will begin in the summer.
The main goal of the initiative is to overcome the shortage of personnel in the education sector. The Ministry of Education plans to train more elementary-level teachers. In a statement last year, the Minister of Education Claude Meisch explained that the problem of hiring teachers is not unique or new for the country: like neighboring France, Belgium, and Germany, Luxembourg nowadays has problems recruiting staff in all sectors, not only education.
The teaching profession in Luxembourg is one of the highest paying in the European Union. Both experienced teachers with 15 years of practice and young professionals are well paid.
However, it is the shortage of educators that is felt more strongly from a long-term perspective. One of the main problems teachers face, according to the National Union of Teachers, is the increasing amount of bureaucratic paperwork within the school that burdens teachers and prevents them from engaging meaningfully in the education of children as they should. The growing use of technology in learning processes also demands resources for professional development from teachers.
The new baccalaureate from the University of Luxembourg is designed for people who already have a bachelor's degree in education, psychology, sociology, mathematics, languages, art, or sports. Thus, the program is designed to attract professionals from associated fields in order to increase the number of teachers in the country and prepare them to teach in schools.
The course program includes 16 courses of lectures, 2 internships, and 1 project work. The training will last a year and will be divided into two semesters. The new direction will have to replace the much-criticized Quereinsteiger program, which will be smoothly canceled by 2025.
Education in Luxembourg is a multi-level system in which the child begins to participate from an early age: preschools, elementary levels, and lyceums offer a great free state education, followed by higher levels.
