Luxembourg

Preprimary education is compulsory at the age of four by the Grand Ducal Regulation of September 2, 1992. The Ministry of Education, which provides twothirds of the financial expenses, controls preprimary schools. Administration and maintenance of preprimary institutions is the responsibility of the municipality. No more than one percent of preprimary schools are private and those that are, are usually attached to a private primary school. Two years of preprimary school is compulsory, but no formal teaching is given to the children. Preprimary schooling fosters physical, intellectual, and social development of the children and prepares the children for entrance into a primary school. For the academic years 1998-1999, there were 10,349 students enrolled in Luxembourg's public preprimary schools. Of these, 62.5 percent were native Luxembourg citizens. The rest were Portuguese (20.2 percent), Yugoslavian (3.8 percent), Italian (3 percent), French (2.9 percent), Belgian (2 percent), and German (1 percent), with the remaining 4.6 percent distributed among a variety of nationalities. There were 654 students enrolled in private preprimary institutions in 1998-1999.

Primary schooling is mandated by the law of August 10, 1912, and covers a period of six years. Fees are charged only by private primary schools. Primary curricula are determined by the Ministry of Education and standardized throughout the country. Students are taught reading, writing, arithmetic, artistic and physical activities, local environment, development of social behavior, and computer sciences. All three national languages are used for instructional purposes. Letzeburgesch is usually the language of the home and is the one first used in primary school. German becomes the second teaching language for all subjects in the primary school with French introduced during the second primary year. All three languages are in common use in primary school instruction. Students are given thirty lessons per week. Promotion is teacher judged based on grades, homework, and oral participation. Special classes are offered for students with unique learning needs and for children of immigrants. The public school student population at the primary grade levels for the years 1998-1999, totaled 29,533 pupils of whom 65 percent were Luxembourgers, 18.6 percent Portuguese, 3.2 percent Yugoslavian, 3.2 percent Italian, 2.5 percent French, 1.7 percent Belgian, 1.2 percent German, and 4.7 percent from among other nationalities. The number of Luxembourg students enrolled in private Catholic and private non-Catholic schools was 2,096.