The staff of an education and care service (service d'éducation et d'accueil - SEA) must fulfil a number of conditions relative to their professional qualifications.

Managerial staff

The managerial staff includes all staff members of the department whose main task is to:

• organisational planning;
• development of educational concepts;
• management and guidance of the other members of staff;
• monitoring of the services provided;
• development of the child's social network.

At least one member of the managerial staff must meet the following cumulative conditions:

• have the necessary psychosocial, pedagogical or socio-educational skills that allow them to engage in the professional supervision of children, as evidenced by either:
  • a higher education diploma recorded in the register of certificates; or
  • a minimal certificate of vocational training which is recognised as a secondary or secondary technical school graduation diploma;
  • an authorisation to carry out a health profession in Luxembourg in the domains mentioned above;
• at least 3 years' professional experience in the psychosocial, pedagogical or socio-educational fields;
• having performed one of the tasks mentioned above for no less than 20 hours a week.

When the reception capacity of the service is greater than or equal to 40 children, at least one of the staff members must provide evidence of either:

• a bachelor level qualification in the psychosocial, pedagogical or socio-educational field that qualifies its holder for the professional supervision of children;
• a licence to practise a health profession in Luxembourg and a bachelor level qualification in the psychosocial, pedagogical or socio-educational field.

A member of the managerial staff who resigns must be replaced within 6 months.

The Education and Care Service at the Ministry of Education must be informed as soon as possible of any changes in the composition of the management by providing the following: The new staff member must provide the following supporting documents:

• a copy of a valid identity card;
• a recent copy of the criminal record;
• a copy of the diploma;
• where applicable, the recognition of the diploma and/or its registration in the register of certificates;
• a copy of the employment contract that mentions the job title and description;
• a copy of the CV.

Supervisory staff

Supervisory staff must be at least 18 years of age.

The supervisory staff is responsible for the following tasks:

• direct educational care of children;
• the preparation of activities;
  
• participation in staff meetings;
• participation in consultation meetings with teachers;
• exchanges with the children's parents.

Each member of the full-time supervisory staff is entitled to 103 hours of coordination and preparation work per year. These hours are to be adjusted proportionally to the volume of the task:

• 103 hours/year for a person working 40 hours per week;
• 77.25 hours/year for a person working 30 hours per week;
• 51.5 hours/year for a person working 20 hours per week, etc.;

The required qualifications of the supervisory staff in education and care establishments depend on the type of services provided. Education and care services for young children or education and care services for schoolchildren.

Education and care services for young children

The supervisory staff of education and care services for young children must demonstrate a professional qualification that meets the following minimum requirements:

• for at least 60 % of the time spent on childcare in any given service, the members of the supervisory staff must provide either:
  •  at least a secondary or secondary technical school graduation diploma recognised by the Minister responsible for secondary education;
  • a higher education qualification recognised by the Minister responsible for higher education
    pertaining to the psychosocial, pedagogical or socio-educational fields that qualifies its holder for the professional supervision of children;

• for a maximum of 30 % of the time spent on childcare in any given service, the members of the supervisory staff must provide either: 
  • an authorisation to carry out a health profession in Luxembourg;
  • a professional qualification respectively a higher education title in the areas of motor skills, language, art or music recognised by either the Minister responsible for secondary education or the Minister responsible for higher education;
  • a certificate of professional competence or a professional aptitude diploma in the psychosocial, pedagogical or socio-educational fields, recognised by the Minister responsible for vocational training, and which qualifies its holder for the professional supervision children;
• for a maximum of 10 % of the time spent on childcare in any given service, the members of the supervisory staff must provide either:
  • a training certificate in social and family services (aide socio-familiale - ASF);
  • a certificate of completion of vocational training of at least 100 hours on the socio-educational supervision of children, recognised by the Minister responsible for childhood;
  • a certificate of professional competence or a diploma of vocational competence (Diplôme d’aptitude professionnelle - DAP) recognised by the Minister responsible for vocational training which attests to the completion of vocational training, recognised by the Minister responsible for childhood, of at least 100 hours on the socio-educational supervision of children.

Education and care services for schoolchildren

The supervisory staff of education and care services for schoolchildren must demonstrate a professional qualification that meets the following minimum requirements:

• for at least 50 % of the time spent on childcare in any given service, the members of the supervisory staff must provide either:
  • at least a secondary or secondary technical school graduation diploma recognised by the Minister responsible for secondary education;
  • a higher education qualification recognised by the Minister responsible for higher education pertaining to the psychosocial, pedagogical or socio-educational fields that qualifies its holder for the professional supervision of children;

• for a maximum of 40 % of the time spent on childcare in any given service, the members of the supervisory staff must provide either:  
  • an authorisation to carry out a health profession in Luxembourg;
  • a professional qualification respectively a higher education title in the areas of motor skills, language, art or music recognised by either the Minister responsible for secondary education or the Minister responsible for higher education;
  • a certificate of professional competence or a professional aptitude diploma in the psychosocial, pedagogical or socio-educational fields, recognised by the Minister responsible for vocational training, and which qualifies its holder for the professional supervision children;
    

•  for a maximum of 10 % of the time spent on childcare in any given service, the members of the supervisory staff must provide either:
  • a training certificate in social and family services (aide socio-familiale - ASF);
  • a certificate of completion of vocational training of at least 100 hours on the socio-educational supervision of children, recognised by the Minister responsible for childhood;
  • a certificate of professional competence or a diploma of vocational competence (Diplôme d’aptitude professionnelle - DAP) recognised by the Minister responsible for vocational training which attests to the completion of vocational training, recognised by the Minister responsible for childhood, of at least 100 hours on the socio-educational supervision of children.

Trainee personnel

Trainee personnel are persons enrolled in vocational qualification training providing them with a professional qualification of secondary school or higher education final examination level, in the psychosocial, pedagogical or socio-educational fields.

They can provide a maximum of 20 % of the total hours of supervision. This corresponds to:

• 2/3 of the quota of 30% of the staff in charge of the supervision of young children;
• 1/2 of the quota of 40% of the staff in charge of the supervision of school children.

At least 100 hours of continuing vocational training

Unqualified staff members as well as holders of a vocational aptitude diploma or a vocational skills certificate (not in the psychosocial, pedagogical or socio-educational fields) engaged under a permanent contract must have completed continuing training of at least 100 hours. This training must focus on the socio-educational supervision of children and be recognised by the Minister responsible for childhood.

Failing this, they have a maximum period of 3 years from their hiring to complete this continuing education.

Holiday activities

For holiday activities, the education and care service establishment can hire pupils or students provided that:

• they hold a brevet A d'aide animateur (assistant youth coordinator certificate);
• and that their activities are monitored by the supervisory staff.

Cook

If the cook who is preparing lunch (whether he is employed by the establishment or an external service provider) serves more than 60 meals per day, he must have a vocational aptitude diploma for cooks (diplôme d'aptitude professionnelle - DAP) or an equivalent qualification.

Regardless of the number of meals, the cook must certify that he has been trained in cooking for children. In absence thereof, the cook must take the course within a year.

Recognition of foreign qualifications

The recognition of a foreign certificate or diploma is carried out by the Service de la reconnaissance des diplômes (Department for the Recognition of Diplomas) at the Ministry of Education, Children and Youth (MEN).

Licences to practice a socio-educational profession can be obtained from the Department for the Recognition of Diplomas.

Classification of professional qualification

A commission is instituted with the Minister responsible for childhood.

It has the following roles:

• propose to the Minister a list of diplomas or degrees that fall within the psychosocial, pedagogical or socio-educational fields;
  
• propose to the Minister a list of the health professions that are eligible as management staff;
  
• to advise the Minister, at the request of the applicant, to determine the level of his professional qualification in accordance with the qualifications prescribed for supervisory and managerial staff (if the diploma is not part of the aforementioned list).

Requests can be addressed to the Minister of Education, Children and Youth.

It is a classification of the qualification in relation to the qualification provisions of the supervisory and managerial staff provided for by the RGD SEA and not a recognition of diplomas.

The application for recognition and the application for licensure must be made prior to the application for classification.

Personnel files

The business administrator must keep an updated personnel file on each of the members of staff including:

• the employment contract or a copy of the decision regarding the person's appointment;
• documents attesting their professional qualification and vocational training;
• a medical certificate;
• and a recent extract from the criminal record (record No. 3, record No. 5 and/or foreign criminal record).

A recent criminal record is one that is less than 2 months old from the date of its establishment.

Given the limited duration of validity of the criminal record, the employer must indicate in the staff member's file that he has checked the good repute of the persons concerned and that on presentation of the criminal record, he was able to observe that the person in question fulfils the conditions of good repute.

Each member of staff who has been charged with or convicted for an offence or offences committed against a minor or involving a minor is required to inform their employer of this immediately.