Teacher protest voiced

(CS) Teachers and the education minister clashed over the planned secondary school reform at a meeting on Tuesday.

Around 500 teachers had assembled at the Forum Geesseknäppchen, though many left early dissatisfied with the talks.

The professionals voiced concerns over many of the planned reforms for secondary school education at the “postprimaire” level. These include combining the first two years into one block, with no option of failing a year, as well as a written paper in the 2nd/12th years. Additionally, the seven traditional sections of secondary education are meant to be reduced to two “dominantes.”

Teachers were critical saying that this will see subjects like literature, art and music suffer. They argue that wealthier parents could afford external help on the written paper, disadvantaging other students. They also expressed their concern for students not being able to repeat a year.

Education minister Mady Delvaux-Stehren countered that repeating years were seldom useful for students, adding that the system of “dominantes” would encourage a broader study of more subjects. The calls for more transparency and dialogue with teachers were however met with an encouraging response by the minister. At the same time Ms Delvaux-Stehrens refused requests for a referendum on the matter.

More protests are planned by the SEW/OGBL for December, following the student protest earlier this month.

The reform plans are meant to be put forward to schools in three weeks.