Free school textbooks from next year

Compulsory textbooks will be free-of-charge for secondary school pupils and those in professional training from the start of the next school year, it has been announced.

The decision will save parents and guardians in the region of €350 to €450 per year – the estimated cost of compulsory material, according to the education ministry, which has allocated a €14.5m budget for the move.

Education minister Claude Meisch said bookstores will continue to provide the textbooks and using second hand material will also be encouraged via a stationery voucher system.

"Free school textbooks in secondary schools will have no impact on allowances," Meisch said. "This is a net benefit."

It applies to all public secondary schools and private ones which follow the Luxembourgish curriculum as well as state-run international schools -- the International School of Differdange and Esch-sur-Alzette and Lycée Michel Lucius.

As part of a sustainable development initiative, a voucher system will be put in place granting pupils a discount on stationery material if they use second-hand books.

To order textbooks from a bookstore pupils will need to select their required books online at eSchoolBooks.lu and present the order form at a store upon collection. The same applies when ordering stationery with a voucher.

(Heledd Pritchard, heledd.pritchard@wort.lu, +352 49 93 459)