In line with all the European schools, Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) has been introduced at our school for S5 students. The pupils will need a computer for educational purposes, which is suitable for use in Mathematics and other subjects. This means that there is a significant outlay for parents purchasing a laptop or tablet for their secondary students.
APEEEL1 are committed to help where we can.
APEEEL1 is working in collaboration with the European schools and Inforgix to facilitate a pilot purchasing scheme. This allows parents to easily purchase laptops with the recommended specification. More information can be found on our website: BRING YOUR OWN DEVICE (BYOD) | APEEE Luxembourg 1 (apeeel1.lu)
For parents working in the European Institutions, we have written to the head of the CALux committee to see if an educational allowance can be introduced to cover the additional expense of purchasing a laptop. At this point we are yet to have a reply, but they have acknowledged receipt of our letter. A copy of our letter can be found here.
Update 11/02/2021, we have received a reply on this matter which can be read here.
For students attending Luxembourgish state schools there is an initiative that loans/rents out devices to pupils https://portal.education.lu/cgie/INNOVATION/ONE2ONE . At this moment in time our pupils do not benefit from this scheme. We have formally asked the school for help to collaborate with the Luxembourgish authorities, to see if the status of our school can change so that our pupils can also take advantage of this scheme. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Patrick VANHOUDT who brought this forward as a motion for debate at our Annual General Meeting.
We are also aware that these additional expenses are not always easy for families to bear. Traditionally the APEEEL1 social fund has assisted members of the Association having difficulties financing school trips to cover part of the cost. We will soon be broadening the remit of our Social fund to also help cover the cost of remote learning and BYOD. This will be communicated to you as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, a parent from our school,Patrick Vanoudt, has also asked the Union Syndicale de Luxembourg, of which he is a member of the executive committee, to escalate the topic to the government officials too. This letter can be found here