Luxembourg's education system in firing line

Luxembourg's education ministry has defended the country's system of teaching after a report highlighted serious shortcomings.

The latest an OCDE study, which rates education systems in member states based on a series of criteria, suggested that Luxembourg was lagging behind the rest of Europe with below average pass rates despite teachers receiving the highest wages in the OCDE group.

Responding to the results, the education department has pointed out that certain national anomalies distort the real picture and can explain many of the seemingly below-average results.

Pass rates

Among the findings of the Regards sur l’Éducation 2011 - Les indicateurs de l’OCDE report, Luxembourg is cited as the country with the lowest pass rate in upper secondary school (41%). This result places the Grand Duchy 30 points behind Ireland, the country with the highest pass rate of 87%. However, the report fails to take into account the success rate of resits, which are permitted in Luxembourg.

Pay scales

Similar distortions are noted in the financial costs associated with the Luxembourgish education system. Luxembourg featured the highest paid teaching staff in the OCDE (110,000 US dollars) as well as the highest investment per student (13,648 US dollars at primary and 19,898 US dollars at secondary level).

But, these seem less excessive when compared with the cost of living in Luxembourg and the fact that many teachers are approaching retirement and therefore at the top end of the pay scale.

Department analysis of the report points out that expenditure per primary school pupil represents 15% of the GDP, and per secondary school student it's a proportion of 22% of the GDP, compared with the OCDE average of 21% and 26% respectively.

Class contact hours

Furthermore, Luxembourg was flagged as below average in the number of hours 7 to 14-year-olds spent in class. However, education analysts point out that class time is considerably higher for young people aged 7 to 11 years old, with pupils spending up to 175 additional hours in class per year.

Small class sizes

Positive results which are not subject to distortion however include the ratio of teachers to pupils and the time dedicated to teaching modern languages to 9 to 11-year-olds (25%) and 12 to 14-year-olds (26%). In the latter area the Grand Duchy was far and away the winner meanwhile, the country retains top position for the smallest class sizes at primary school.