Luxembourg’s education minister acknowledged in Lisbon on Monday that Portuguese students are at a disadvantage when their families do not speak the national language and vowed to work with the Portuguese government to improve the integration of these families.

Claude Meish spoke to reporters at the end signing of two protocols aims to strengthen the teaching of the Portuguese language in Luxembourg, namely the convention on adult education in Portuguese and the joint Portuguese-Luxembourgish declaration on the teaching and promotion of language and intercultural communication.

The first protocol aims precisely to respond to the situation identified by both countries and to put an end to the disadvantaged position of students of Portuguese origin in entering school when their parents do not speak Luxembourgish.

“Sometimes we see that for those who come from a family that does not speak he also does not understand the national language or the language of the education systemthis is a disadvantage,” said the Luxembourgish Minister of National Education, Children and Youth, Claude Meish.

The signed protocol “will allow the organization of basic adult education in Luxembourg in Portuguese”.

“Luxembourg is a very open country, with many different languages ​​and cultures (…) and we find this situation in our schools, we have a very diverse school population and that is why we have diversified our schools,” the minister said. recalling what has been created in this country”several international public schools to give all students in Luxembourg the opportunity to choose the one that suits their mother tongue, their mother culture.”

He clarified that the goal is to integrate people with different languages ​​and cultural backgrounds into the school.

The minister also said that Luxembourg, where the largest community is of Portuguese origin (about a third of the total population), is adapting the traditional school model.

Among the various tools it provides is the opportunity for adults to learn French, given the difficulties they face with the German they learn to read and write in Luxembourg.

“It is important for us to give our students rules and wings“, he defended, deeming it important that they “know the past of the family when the parents leave Portugal for Luxembourg”.

“They should not forget the past, the origin of their families,” he argued.

The moderator of this meeting, which took place at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Lisbon, Secretary of State for Portuguese Communities, Paulo Cafofo, said that the signed protocols are “a continuation of the work carried out for the good integration of the Portuguese community and the descendants of the Portuguese, new generations in Luxembourgish society, but also to promote the Portuguese language“.

Cafofo said the Portuguese government is urging the community “not to forget their roots, the Portuguese language” but also “to accept and integrate the culture of the country in which they live.”

And said it’s doneon multiple fronts“namely at school, in the first cycle, with Portuguese teachers, “but also with the integration of Portuguese as a language into the Luxembourg school system, whether it be additional courses, public schools of international studies, adult education, with a very important aspect : certification” .

“We want our children of Portuguese origin to have more opportunities, to be well integrated into the society in which they live, never forgetting the Portuguese language and culture,” he added.

He highlighted the most innovative aspect of these protocols signed on that day, namely adult education, namely teaching Portuguese to teachers in Luxembourg.

“It’s not just that our Portuguese teachers teach, but also the training of Luxembourgish teachers, and this is very important when the Portuguese language is integrated into the school curriculum in Luxembourg,” he said.

He continued: “We are growing in student numbers, whether it is parallel or integrated education, this year we have over 3,100 students in primary and secondary school, 8.5% more than last year and we have invested three million euros in Luxembourg to promote the Portuguese language.”

“There is direct investment from us, as well as from the Luxembourg government, which wants and recognizes the importance of the Portuguese community, which is an asset in the development of Luxembourg itself, as well as in the development and integration are the determining factors in the policies of the two governments“, he added.

According to the Emigration Observatory, in 2019, out of 291,723 people living in Luxembourg, 613,894 were born abroad, of which 83,666 were born in Portugal (28.7% of those born abroad living in Luxembourg).