Marketing in Luxembourg

Initiatives targeted at the promotion of VET programmes are organised by the Ministry of Education, Children and Youth in cooperation with the professional chambers and other stakeholders. The professional chambers also receive specific funds by the State for the promotion and marketing of VET.

After primary education until the age of 12, learners are oriented towards general secondary education or technical secondary education depending on their results and capacities. Vocational education and training (VET) is included and provided by the technical secondary schools. The VET and more specifically the apprenticeship system are mostly seen by the society as a social and educational setback for learners. VET programmes are seen as second choice pathways when no other options seem possible anymore. General secondary education, which leads to academic studies, is generally considered to be the more prestigious choice. This, to some extent, is a consequence of the labour market structure where the biggest demand is for highly qualified profiles with academic degrees (tertiary economy).

The initiatives targeted at the marketing and promotion of the VET system are mainly organised by the Ministry of Education, Children and Youth, in cooperation with the professional chambers and other stakeholders like the technical secondary schools, the Agency for the development of Employment and the guidance services. Some initiatives to increase young people’s awareness of vocational training are:

• The “Girls Day / Boys Day” that helps boys and girls discover trades and professions which are untypical for their gender. The aim of this day is to contribute to a more diverse representation of genders in the different trades and professions;
• The “Lux skills” national competition for trades and professions, as well as the “Village of trades” (Village des métiers) where trades and professions are presented to young learners. The national trades and profession competition takes place every 2 years and is a showcase for the best apprentices competing against each other in more than 17 different trades and professions. The best amongst those competitors are chosen to represent Luxembourg at international competitions like Euroskills or Worldskills.

The professional chambers also receive a specific fund form the State for the marketing and promotion of VET. Some initiatives of the chambers include:

• The Chamber of Trades and Skilled Crafts launched the IVET and Master craftsperson promotion initiative “Hands up”. This informs young people about careers in craft trades: their value, richness and diversity, and showcases its innovative approaches. At the heart of the initiative is its website, which presents useful information about craft trades, and training necessary to access them, in a user-friendly way in French and German;
• To assist people (mostly adults) interested in the Master craftsperson qualification, the Chamber of Trades and Skilled Crafts organises annual information sessions;
• The Chamber of Commerce has developed a portal for supervisors of apprentices, with information on teaching and training methods;
• The Chamber of Trades and Skilled Crafts has created a “Training enterprise label” to honour enterprises committed to the training of young people in apprenticeship or internship.