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A teacher by training, Claude Sevenig joined the Ministry of Education in 2006 where she was involved in policy design and implementation, including among others the Project of multilingual education in early childhood care and education. 

The Luxembourgish school system has been trilingual since the 19^th century. Pupils learn to read and write in German and are taught in German during primary school, French is learned as a second language, not exactly as a foreign language, since it is becoming main language of instruction during secondary education. Luxembourgish is the language of communication and integration.

A multilingual education system like that is very successful for native speakers and pupils who speak and understand the language of literacy. They easily acquire literacy skills, which in turn facilitate the acquisition of additional languages and to study the other subjects.

However, current results of international studies, as well as national analyses show that the Luxembourg education system with its high expectations in languages, does not sufficiently consider the growing diversity of its population and provide adequate answers to the widening performance gaps between the pupils.

Since 2013, the government has been working to adapt the country’s school system to this great diversity and to address the persisting inequalities. Its policy initiatives focus on early language learning, diversifying language paths in secondary education, and offering a second language pathway for the acquisition of reading and writing skills. 

Allowing children to acquire a solid and rich first language, mother language or home language and offering them the opportunity to learn to read and write in their first language or in a language that they master well are promising leads. 

Luxembourg’s multilingual early learning programme for 1to 4-year-olds puts a strong focus on the developing and emerging language skills of the children, regardless of the language they speak at home, encourages the exposure of the children to a rich learning environment and the languages they will later encounter in the education system. Emphasis is put on meaningful, stimulating interactions, while valorizing the children’s mother and family languages. The program is linked to funding by the government and each child from the age of 1 is entitled to 20 hours of free childcare per week in an accredited setting that offers the program

Breaking with the tradition of having only one language for literacy, in this instance German, Luxembourg is conducting a very promising pilot project called “Alpha – zesumme wuessen” for literacy in French in public schools. This means that the children will have the choice of learning to read and write in French or in German, while remaining together in the same class and in the same school.