In this school year APEEEL1 has further continued its efforts to address the problems of teacher recruitment and retention at the European Schools in Luxembourg. Following the parent meetings in December 2017 with Commissioner Oettinger to explain the issues and the roundtable and summit which the Commissioner chaired with the Member States in May 2018 to analyse the situation, APEEEL1 has continued to develop and lobby for an improvement in teacher conditions in Luxembourg. As part of this work, in October 2018, APEEEL1 led the analysis and, together with APEEEL2, wrote a position paper on the particular difficulties faced in Luxembourg. This report was sent to the Office of the Secretary General of the European Schools (OSGES) to be included in their analysis and working groups to define and propose solutions to the relevant governance bodies of our schools.
Alongside this, APEEEL1 also engaged with EIB, which is currently analysing whether it would renew its financial contribution to the ES system and – if yes – for which amount and under which conditions.
APEEEL1 have been encouraged by the European Schools recent budget committee meeting in which the situation in Luxembourg was presented in some detail to the Member States and highlighted the urgency with which a solution needs to be found. APEEEL1 will now continue to lobby ahead of the next round of meetings which include the Board of Governors in early December and Commissioner Oettinger’s next meeting with the Education Ministers on 26th November. Further information in the format of a short paper will be uploaded next week on our website.