Guidance System in Luxembourg

OVERVIEW

In Luxembourg, guidance refers to a series of activities that help citizens at any time of their lives to identify their capabilities, skills and interests. This allows them to make well-informed decisions concerning their choice of studies and trainings as well as their professional activities, with the purpose of serving their personal development and the development of society. This definition embeds the concept of career management skills.

Different entities contribute to support guidance at national level: educational and public employment services, social partners, private and non-profit organisations.

In 2012, several public services had been gathered at one single site and in 2017, to improve the coordination of guidance counselling, a national guidance centre was officially created as Maison de l’orientation.

POLICY

The bill on the organisation of the Maison de l’orientation was passed in Parliament in 2017 and also lead to the creation of a Coordination Service (Service de coordination de la Maison de l’orientation). The law on the Coordination Service provides a legal basis for a Guidance Forum, which gathers all political stakeholders, social partners and institutions that are involved in the field of guidance. The Coordination Service’s mission is to advise and coordinate the services offered by the Maison de l’orientation and its partners.

A national reference framework for educational and vocational guidance lays down the minimal standards to be respected by secondary schools during the implementation of their educational and vocational career counselling. It is also used to structure, guide and evaluate all the actions and initiatives taken in the counselling process. The main goal is to provide the best possible guidance to students, especially in their transition periods.

While the Ministry of Education, Children and Youth is in charge of day-to-day management of the Maison de l’orientation, the Ministry of Higher Education and Research and the Ministry of Labour, Employment and the Social and Solidarity Economy are also responsible for guidance-related issues.

SERVICES AND PRACTICE

House of Guidance (Maison de l'orientation)

The House of Guidance is a state administration officially created by law in 2017. The administration brings together several public actors active in the field of educational and vocational guidance under one roof. The House of guidance is accessible to all citizens seeking advice on educational and vocational guidance in order to help them identify their skills, abilities, and interests, and to make informed decisions regarding their choice of studies, training as well as professional projects. 

Through its one-stop shop, the Maison de l’orientation brings together all the public authorities and services in charge of assisting people in shaping their career paths:

Services under the Ministry of Education, Children and Youth (MENJE):

Coordination Service of the House of Guidance (Service de coordination de la Maison de l’orientation - SCMO)

The Coordination service of the House of guidance carries out and coordinates the conceptual work for school and career guidance and ensures its implementation in the school community. 

It also ensures the efficient running of the single point of contact at the House of Guidance which is made up of five thematic counters (school career, training and careers, higher education, youth information, adult education) through which the House of guidance welcomes, informs and advises people in need of support during their guidance process.

Agency for the transition to independent living (Agence pour la transition vers une vie autonome - ATVA)

The Agency for the transition to independent living (ATVA) is part of a network of eight Competence centers working to promote inclusive education. ATVA's educational and psycho-social team members facilitate, on a voluntary basis, the transition to an active life for young people with specific needs confirmed by a diagnosis carried out by a specialised Competence centre.

ATVA offers advice and information on the transition to an active and independent life, returning to school, further training and qualification opportunities, adapted vocational training, further training and also raises awareness of inclusion in the labour market.

Centre for Psycho-Social and Educational Accompaniment (Centre psycho-social et d’accompagnement scolaires - CePAS)

In terms of guidance, the department's missions include the following:

• development of reference frameworks for psycho-social support for pupils, non-formal education and extra-curricular activities, as well as pupil participation
• draw up an annual report on psycho-social support for pupils, non-formal education and extra-curricular activities, as well as on pupil participation, based on data provided by the secondary schools
• contribute to the development of ministerial guidelines on well-being, mental health, non-formal education, extra-curricular provision and pupil participation
• contribute to the initial and ongoing training of educational and psycho-social staff and teachers.

The CePAS Youth and Family Counselling Centre offers young people, parents and guardians psychological and therapeutic counselling, parental guidance and socio-educational support tailored to their needs, on an occasional or regular basis. The centre takes care of pupils who require a range of psycho-social support and guidance, while also offering group activities for young people to improve their social skills.

Adult education (Service de la Formation des Adultes - SFA)

Three types of training are offered and coordinated by the Adult education service: the second qualification pathway, which gives access to recognised diplomas and training courses; training to improve literacy and calculation skills and general and civic education for adults.

School Integration and Welcoming Service (Service de l’intégration et de l’accueil scolaires - SIA)

The School Integration and Welcoming Service welcomes families who have recently arrived in Luxembourg. It offers information and counselling for the pupils and their parents on all questions related to the Luxembourgish school offers and non-formal education and also provides individual monitoring.

As a resource service, the SIA supports schools, secondary schools and competence centres in their task of integrating newly arrived pupils, and provides a national network of professionals involved in welcoming and integrating them into schools.

National Youth Service (Antennes locales pour jeunes (ALJ) Luxembourg du Service national de la jeunesse (SNJ)

The Antennes locales pour jeunes (ALJ) are part of the Service national de la jeunesse (SNJ) and their mission is to support young people in their transition from school to work. They are spread over 11 sites across the country, in order to be close to young people and their realities. The staff specialise in supporting young people and implementing programmes to help them re-enter the labour market.

Their work is aimed at young people who are still at school, but who are about to leave without any concrete solution, as well as those who have left the school system without a diploma.

The Voluntary service of the National Youth Service (Service national de la jeunesse, SNJ) allows young people under the age of 30 to become active in the context of a specific project of general interest.

Services under the Ministry of Research and Higher Education (MESR):

Higher Education Information Service (Service information études supérieures - mengstudien)

The Higher Education Information Service provides answers to all questions related to higher education studies in Luxembourg and abroad, including entry requirements and enrolment procedures, as well as fields of study and training pathways.

Services under the Ministry of Labour:

Career Guidance Service, ADEM-OP (Service d’orientation professionnelle de I’Agence pour le développement de l’emploi (ADEM-OP) - Région Centre)

The career guidance service is for young people and adults, its mission is to support and assist individuals in their personal development and choice of professional career. The department is responsible for initial and adult apprenticeship placements (Labour Code, article 622-15/1).
ADEM-OP helps students choose the right career by offering guidance counselling and information sessions. In addition, ADEM-OP manages a documentation centre that provides information on different professions and jobs. 

TRAINING

In Luxembourg, counsellors who work in the field of guidance generally have either a bachelor’s degree in social and educational sciences, a master's degree in psychology or in social sciences and educational sciences. In each secondary school, members of the guidance unit contribute to educational and vocational guidance.

Guidance practitioners acquire their specific skills through in-service or continuous training organised in accordance with the reference framework for educational and vocational guidance, by the National Education Institute of Training (IFEN) and the different partners of the Guidance Centre, such as the Centre for Psycho-Social and Educational Accompaniment, the Public Employment Service, the School Integration and Welcoming Service or private training institutions.

Since 2018, the IFEN and the SCMO continuously develop and improve the training offer for guidance practitioners in schools.

Two milestones have been achieved in recent years:

1. From 2020 to 2022, a university level course for guidance coordinators in secondary schools has been offered in cooperation with the PHNÖ (Austria). A total of 20 participants have taken part in the training and continue to share their knowledge and insights in their schools. The common understanding achieved has also shaped the evolution of the reference framework.
2. A modular offer for guidance practitioners in schools: the modular offer has been developed:

• a “Basic Module: Fundamentals of careers education and guidance” has by now been taken by over 70 participants
• advanced modules on individual counselling interviews, on careers education and guidance in the classroom are now being offered at the IFEN. 

The Maison de l’orientation, through its coordination service, has also been offering since 2018 as a part of the guidance counsellor training plan, a whole series of other training courses and study visit possibilities in cooperation with partners specialised in different fields.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

Currently there is no national research centre specialised in guidance questions. However, studies are often commissioned by the different guidance services in order to evaluate the impact of their work and their counselling methods.

University of Luxembourg:

• Faculty of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences (FHSE)

• The Luxembourg Centre for Educational Testing (LUCET) is a research and transfer centre focused on the elaboration and use of assessment and measurement for the educational field.
• The Institute for Lifelong Learning and Guidance conducts research on education, training and guidance of learners in various contexts.

Studies on youth and education in Luxembourg, carried out by the University of Luxembourg, tend to inform i.a. about aspects relating to guidance.

• National Report on the situation of youth in Luxembourg
• National Report on education

In 2024, a study on “NEETs” in Luxembourg has been published by the Ministry of Education, Children and Youth.

A collection of studies on youth in Luxembourg is available here.

Thematic reports carried out by the Observatoire de la qualité scolaire, in cooperation with the University of Luxembourg, also refers to guidance related activities at national level.

ETHICS

Guidance counsellors work according to the code of deontology inherent in their profession and the guidance service they belong to.

For further information, you may consult Cedefop's European inventory of lifelong guidance systems and practices – Luxembourg.