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

Managerial staff

All of the service's staff members whose main task entails:

• organisational planning;
• developing educational concepts;
• management and guidance of the other members of staff;
• monitoring the provision of services in accordance with the provisions of Article 2 of the amended Grand Ducal regulation of 14 November 2013 on the approval to be granted to managers of education and childcare services;
• development of the relations between the providers in the child's social network;

are classed as managerial staff.

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

• hold, in the psychosocial, pedagogical or socio-educational fields one of the following documents entitling its holder to supervise children in a professional capacity:
  • a higher education diploma recorded in the register of certificates; or
  • a recognised certificate of vocational training at least of the level of a secondary or secondary technical school graduation diploma; or
  • a licence to practise a health profession in Luxembourg in the domains mentioned above (see also the section 'Forms / Online services' below);
• have at least 3 years of professional experience in the psychosocial, pedagogical or socio-educational fields, including at least one and a half years in the field of non-formal education with children aged 0 to 12 years;
• have 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 members of the managerial staff must provide evidence of either:

• a bachelor's or master's level qualification in the psychosocial, pedagogical or socio-educational field that qualifies its holder to work in professional childcare; or
• a bachelor's or master's level qualification in the psychosocial, pedagogical or socio-educational field.

Any members of the managerial staff who resign must be replaced within 6 months.

• Any changes in the management staff must be communicated as soon as possible and within a maximum period of 6 months to the Education and Care Service of the Ministry of Education, Children and Youth. The manager is required to submit an application for a change of accreditation for the new managerial staff with supporting documents within that deadline.

Supervisory staff

The supervisory staff must be at least 18 years of age.

The supervisory staff is responsible for the following tasks:

• direct educational care of children;
• 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/week;
• 77.25 hours/year for a person working 30 hours/week;
• 51.5 hours/year for a person working 20 hours/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 be able to demonstrate that they have obtained a professional qualification that satisfies 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 general or classic secondary school graduation diploma recognised by the Minister responsible for secondary education;
  • or a higher-education diploma recognised by the Minister responsible for higher education;

in the psychosocial, pedagogical or socio-educational fields and which allow their holder to work in professional childcare.

• for a maximum of 30 % of the time spent on childcare in any given service, the members of the supervisory staff must provide either:
  • a licence to exercise a profession in the healthcare sector in Luxembourg; or
  • a professional qualification or a higher education diploma 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 vocational aptitude diploma in the psychosocial, pedagogical or socio-educational fields, recognised by the Minister responsible for vocational training, and entitling its holder to work in professional childcare;
• 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, attesting to the completion of vocational training comprising at least 100 hours of socio-educational childcare, recognised by the Minister responsible for childhood.

Managerial staff members who cannot avail themselves of the required continuous training will have to complete it within 3 years of their appointment.

Education and care services for schoolchildren

The supervisory staff of education and care services for schoolchildren must be able to demonstrate that they have obtained 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:
  • a diploma attesting to the completion of at least a general or classic secondary education; or
  • a higher-education diploma;

recognised by the Ministry responsible for secondary education, in the psychosocial, pedagogical or socio-educational fields, and which allow their holder to work in professional childcare.

• for a maximum of 40 % of the time spent on childcare in any given service, the members of the supervisory staff must provide either:
  • a licence to exercise a profession in the healthcare sector in Luxembourg; or
  • a professional qualification or a higher education diploma 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 vocational aptitude diploma in the psychosocial, pedagogical or socio-educational fields, recognised by the Minister responsible for vocational training, and entitling the holder to work in professional childcare.

• 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, attesting to the completion of vocational training comprising at least 100 hours of socio-educational childcare, recognised by the Minister responsible for childhood.

Managerial staff members who cannot avail themselves of the required continuous training will have to complete it within 3 years of their appointment.

Exemption from the professional qualification requirements

An exemption from the professional qualification requirements applicable to supervisory childcare staff may be granted to accommodate measures in response to the massive influx of displaced persons from Ukraine.

To apply for the exemption, the manager should send a written request, stating the reason, to the Minister responsible for Children and Youth Affairs. The reason for the request should be the need for additional staff due to an exceptional increase in the number of children requiring care, further to the massive influx of displaced persons from Ukraine.

The period of validity of the decision to grant exemption from the conditions of professional qualification of childcare staff expires on 31 December 2023 at the latest.

The exemption will also cover holiday activities.

Trainee personnel

Persons enrolled in a training programme to obtain:

• a professional qualification professional qualification of secondary school or higher education final examination level; or
• a higher-education diploma in the psychosocial, pedagogical or socio-educative fields;

are considered trainee personnel.

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 schoolchildren.

118 hours of continuing training (Basics of childcare)

Staff members with no psychosocial, pedagogical or socio-educational qualifications employed under a permanent contract (CDI) must complete the 118-hour continuing training course (Bases de l'éducation et de l'accueil d'enfants on the Caritas website or on the website of the Fédération des acteurs du secteur social au Luxembourg (FEDAS)). This course focusses on socio-educational childcare and is recognised by the Minister responsible for childhood.

Failing this, they have a maximum period of 3 years from being hired 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
• their activities are monitored by the supervisory staff.

Cook

Establishments that provide lunches (whether prepared by their own staff or by an external provider) and serve more than 60 meals a day must be able to prove that the cook holds a vocational aptitude diploma for cooks (diplôme d'aptitude professionnelle - DAP) or an equivalent qualification.

Regardless of the number of meals, cooks must certify that they have been trained in cooking for children. Should this not be the case, they must complete this course within a year.

Academic recognition of foreign higher education qualifications and degrees

The Ministry of Higher Education and Research (MESR) is responsible for registering foreign "bachelor" or "master" degrees in the register of certificates.

Recognition of foreign qualifications

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

Licence to practise

The licence to practise a socio-educational profession (foreign qualified educator and care assistant) is also obtained from the Department for the Recognition of Diplomas.

The licence to practise the profession of Luxembourg care assistant is obtained from the Department of Vocational Training.

The licence to practise a health profession can be obtained from the Ministry of Health (see the section 'Forms / Online services').

Commission for the classification of professional qualifications

A commission is set up to assist the Minister responsible for childhood.

Its mission is as follows:

• provide advice to the Minister, at the request of the applicant, with a view to determining the level of his or her professional qualification in accordance with the qualifications laid down for managerial and supervisory staff.

Requests can be addressed to the Minister of Education, Children and Youth by email at the address commission-classification@men.lu.

This is a classification of qualifications in relation to the qualification provisions for management and supervisory staff set out in the Grand Ducal regulation on SEA and not a recognition of diplomas, a licence to practise or an entry in the register of certificates.

The application for recognition and the application for a licence to practise must be made before the application for classification.

Personnel files

During operation, the manager must keep an up-to-date personnel file for each staff member, including:

• the employment contract or a copy of the decision regarding the person's appointment; and
• documents attesting to their professional qualifications, work experience and continuing vocational training; and
• a medical certificate; and
• a recent extract from their 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 they have checked the good repute of the persons concerned and that on presentation of the criminal record, they were 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 committed against a minor or involving a minor is required to inform their employer of this immediately.

Forms / Online services