Luxembourg: Primary School in Evolution

Abstract

Primary school and the problems it poses were the subject of a roundtable discussion organized by the Luxembourg Section of the European Association of Teachers in collaboration with the European School. To understand the essential features of primary school in Luxembourg, i.e., the six years of mandatory schooling for children between the ages of 6 and 12, two phenomena must be borne in mind, the first the linguistic factor and the second the demographic factor. Three languages are currently used in the Grand Duchy, each performing a function of its own: Grand Duchy, each performing a function of its own: —Luxembourgeois, of Germanic origin, is the language spoken by all segments of the population. It is the national language of the Luxembourgeois; —German is the written language: the newspapers are for the most part in German; —French is the official language of administration, the courts, and international relations and is the written language of the intellectual strata.