(Click image to enlarge)  As established by their original School Law of 1843, Luxembourg has a highly centralized educational system. Two ministries bear all essential responsibility for education in Luxembourg: the Ministry for Education and Vocational Training (MENFP) and the Ministry for Higher Education and Research (MESR) (Eurypedia, 2013). The MENFP is responsible for planning, budgeting, regulating, and monitoring almost every aspect of education, including life-long learning efforts and adult education policies. The MESR governs all higher education institutions, primarily the University of Luxembourg, recently established in 2003 (Eurypedia, 2013). Within this highly centralized system, the majority of students are provided schooling from public, state-funded institutions.

Although private schools exist, the state maintains a dominant role. For instance, many private schools are at least partially publicly subsidized and are thus subject to the same regulations as public institutions. Students attending private schools are required to pass the same state examinations to receive their official diplomas (“World data on education: Luxembourg”, 2012, p. 6).  A different state entity, the Ministry of Family Affairs and Integration (MFI), is responsible for providing nurseries and extracurricular care. The 2009 school reform of elementary education then expanded the role of municipalities and relaxed the role of the state in primary education. While the state is still responsible for appointing teachers, the municipalities are now tasked with elementary school planning and evaluation (Eurypedia, 2013).

Resources for written section and chart:

Eurypedia (2013). Luxemboug: Overview. In Eurypedia. retrieved from https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/fpfis/mwikis/eurydice/index.php/Luxembourg:Overview

Ministère de l’Education nationale et de la Formation professionelle. (2013). Organisation et gouvernance. retrieved from: http://www.men.public.lu/fr/systeme-educatif/organisation-gouvernance/index.html