University launches “Bachelor en Formation Pédagogique” in 2023/24

Starting September of the academic year 2023/24, the University of Luxembourg will offer a “Bachelor en Formation Pédagogique”. The new course will give more students the opportunity to work as elementary school teachers and thus will respond to the dearth of teaching staff in Luxembourg.

The two-semester course will provide students with the pedagogical and didactic skills for teaching in a plurilingual and multicultural school environment. Candidates for the “Bachelor en Formation Pédagogique” (BFP) are people with a bachelor's degree in appropriate fields such as education, languages, psychology, art or physical education.

The currently existing programme for “Quereinsteiger” will be completely replaced by this new course from the 2024/25 academic year on. The new Bachelor will become a second entry point into the elementary school teaching profession in Luxembourg. The University's existing four-year programme “Bachelor en Sciences de l’Éducation” (BScE) will continue to train elementary school teachers and give graduates direct access to the teaching profession.

Practical modalities

The Bachelor consists of two semesters and gives access to work in the cycles 2, 3 and 4 of elementary school, in the “classes de la voie de préparation” for general secondary school and the care of children with particular and special needs. A BScE degree is required to work in cycle 1 of elementary education.

The course modules on one hand adress learning processes, pedagogy, classroom management and how to deal with heterogeneity, and on the other hand the teaching of specific subjects (e.g. educational psychology and language didactics, mathematics, natural sciences, physical education). Two working experiences in Luxembourg schools are planned. As in the BScE, the languages of instruction will be French, German, Luxembourgish and English.

Up to 240 students can register for a course. Applicants must have a bachelor's degree with 180 ECTS in one of the above mentioned areas and have passed the BFP admissions exam administered by the University in July. Applications are open since March. All those interested can discover the Bachelor and speak with teachers during the University’s Open Day on 18 March.

“This programme illustrates that the University serves the country and its citizens”,  emphasised Rector Jens Kreisel. "The programme meets the needs of the school system in Luxembourg, as well as those of people wishing to enter the school profession, by offering a high-quality curriculum. The university is thus strengthening its long-term strategy in the field of education.”

“The teaching profession is today one of the key vocations for the development of our society”, said Minister Claude Meisch, Minister of Education, Children and Youth and Minister for Higher Education and Research. “Given the heterogeneity of the school population and the requirements for tomorrow’s qualifications, this profession will continue to gain in importance in the future. This is why Luxembourg, like other European countries, has invested heavily in the development of the training offer giving access to the teaching profession.”

The new Bachelor is a major component of a comprehensive agreement with the government to expand educational science at the University. In addition to the “Bachelor en Formation pédagogique”, higher capacity for the BScE and three new Master programmes are in preparation.

• Presentation Bachelor en Formation Pédagogique
• Flyer Bachelor en Formation Pédagogique
• Fact sheet Bachelor en Sciences de l’Education - Bachelor en Formation Pédagogique

Photo: From left to right: Prof. Claude Houssemand, Prof. Antoine Fischbach, Prof. Jens Kreisel, Minister Claude Meisch, Gilbert Busana, Prof. Robert Harmsen, Prof. Christina Siry

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