The staff of the mini-crèche must meet several requirements in terms of professional qualifications.

Given the requirements of non-formal education, it is essential that a person with proven experience in the field of non-formal education of children is in charge of the following key tasks:

1. organisational planning;
2. development of educational concepts;
3. management and guidance of the other members of staff;
4. monitoring the implementation of services in compliance with the provisions of Article 2;
5. development of the child's social network.

Please note that this person cannot provide full-time supervision.

Furthermore, one person must take care of administrative tasks (e.g. invoicing, etc.).

Supervisory staff

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

Tasks and responsibilities of the supervisory staff

The members of the supervisory staff are the persons whose main mission is the direct educational support for the children within the framework of the services provided by the mini-crèche.

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;
• participation in continuing vocational training courses.

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.

Qualifications of the supervisory staff

The supervisory staff in a mini-crèche must hold professional qualification meeting the following minimal requirements:

• at least 50 % of the time spent on childcare must be provided by supervisory staff with the following qualifications:
  • either a diploma in the psychosocial, educational or socio-educational fields, equivalent to at least a classic or general secondary school leaving diploma, and qualifying its holder to work in professional childcare; the diploma must be validly recognised by the Minister responsible for secondary education;
  • or a higher education qualification in the psychosocial, educational or socio-educational fields, qualifying its holder to work in professional childcare; the qualification must be recognised by the Minister responsible for higher education;
• at most 50 % of the time spent on childcare must be provided by supervisory staff with the following qualifications:
  • either a certificate of formal training in child-minding and 5 years of schooling after their basic education;
  • or a certificate of formal training in social and family services, and 5 years of schooling after their basic education;
  • or a vocational capacity certificate or a vocational aptitude diploma in the psychosocial, educational or socio-educational fields, recognised by the Minister responsible for vocational training, and which qualifies its holder to work in professional childcare;
  • or a vocational capacity certificate or a vocational aptitude diploma, recognised by the Minister responsible for vocational training, and a certificate, recognised by the Minister responsible for childhood, attesting to at least 118 hours of continuing vocational training in the socio-educational care of children.

118 hours of continuing training (Basics of childcare)

Holders of a vocational capacity certificate or a vocational aptitude diploma (not in the psychosocial, pedagogical or socio-educational fields) hired under a permanent contract must have completed continuing training of at least 118 hours.

This training must focus on the socio-educational care of children and be 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.

Academic recognition of foreign higher education qualifications and degrees

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

Recognition of diplomas

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 practice

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

The authorisation to practise the profession of life assistant in Luxembourg must be requested from the Department of Vocational Training.

The authorisation to practise a health profession must be requested from the Ministry of Health and Social Security.

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;
• 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.

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