Glossary

The competence centres for specialised psychopedagogy (centres de compétences en psycho-pédagogie spécialisée) offer pupils with specific needs specialised services in addition to the services provided by primary or secondary education. The competence centres offer, for example:

• a specialised diagnosis;
• advice for professionals dealing with the pupil or people in his/her environment (family, class, etc);
• specialised ambulatory interventions in regular classes;
• special schooling in a class at a competence centre.

There are eight competence centres and one agency in the Grand Duchy:

• Centre for the development of speech, hearing and communication-related skills – Competence centre for language and hearing therapy (Centre pour le développement des compétences langagières, auditives et communicatives – Centre de logopédie, CL);
• Competence centre for the development of vision-related skills (Centre pour le développement des compétences relatives à la vue, CDV);
• Competence centre for socio-emotional development (Centre pour le développement socio-émotionnel, CDSE);
• Grand Duchess Maria Teresa Competence centre for learning development (Centre pour le développement des apprentissages Grande-Duchesse Maria Teresa, CDA);
• Competence centre for motor development (Centre pour le développement moteur, CDM);
• Competence centre for intellectual development (Centre pour le développement intellectuel, CDI);
• Competence centre for children and young people with autism spectrum disorder (Centre pour enfants et jeunes présentant un trouble du spectre de l’autisme, CTSA);
• Competence centre for children and young people with high potential (Centre pour enfants et jeunes à haut potentiel, CEJHP);
• Agency for the transition to independent living (Agence pour la transition vers une vie autonome, ATVA).

Directory: Competence centres

The inclusion of children and young people with specific needs is a priority for the Luxembourg Government. It covers a wide range of fields, including:

• education and training (primary and secondary school, vocational training, higher education, music lessons, adult learning, etcs);
• education and childcare services (crèches and maisons relais);
• activities for young people (e.g. at maisons des jeunes – youth centres, holiday and leisure activities).

The various types of assistance offered to pupils with specific needs are primarily intended to allow the children to continue their schooling in regular education, in a class of their peers at primary or secondary school. Pupils with specific needs who attend a class at a competence centre or a school outside the Grand Duchy always stay enrolled in their initial class.

The inclusion commissions (commissions d'inclusion, CI) operate in primary education within the fifteen regional directorates. They define the way pupils with specific needs are to be treated at primary schools.  They generally operate on the basis of a request from either the parents, or the class teacher with the parents' agreement. If necessary, they instruct the region's ESEB team to draw up a diagnosis. If appropriate, the CI decide, with the parents' agreement, to forward the pupil's file to the National Inclusion Commission (CNI) for a diagnosis and specialised care.

Staff at the competence centres draw up an individualised education plan (plan éducatif individualisé, PEI) for each of the pupils with specific needs in their care. These plans are based on the regular syllabuses and curricula of primary and secondary education. They are adapted to the specific educational needs of each pupil in their care.

The inclusion commissions (CI) set up within the directorates for primary education may draw up individualised support plans (plans de prise en charge individualisé) for each pupil with specific needs. These plans may include a variety of measures such as adapting the teaching in the classroom, assistance being provided in the classroom by specialised outsiders, or having the pupil temporarily attend a different class. The plan is submitted to the parents for their agreement.

A secondary school's inclusion commission (commission d'inclusion scolaire, CIS) may propose an individualised training plan (plan de formation individualisé, PFI) The CIS identified the subjects and skills corresponding to the pupil's abilities and adapt the pace of learning to suit the pupil.  The PFI must be accepted by the parents or adult pupil.

These learning workshops (ateliers d'apprentissage) are specific workshops in addition to the teaching provided as part of regular schooling. They are organised either at a competence centre or one of its decentralised annexes, or at an primary or secondary school, or at any other appropriate venue, either during or outside normal class hours. By offering these learning workshops, the competence centres bring together pupils with similar needs. They propose targeted activities enabling pupils to reinforce specific skills, e.g. in terms of eyesight, language, hearing, or high potential.

The national inclusion commission (Commission nationale d’inclusion, CNI)  intervenes at the national level. Its task is to process requests for a diagnosis or specialised care for a pupil with specific needs.  The CNI generally operates on the basis of a request from either the parents, or an adult pupil, or an approved psycho-social service, or by the pupil's family doctor, or on the basis of a file forwarded by an inclusion commission (CI) or a school inclusion commission (CIS), always with the agreement of the parents or the adult pupil.

In many cases the CNI instructs one or more of the competence centres to draw up a specialised diagnosis. The CNI also monitors the implementation of the measures proposed and accepted by the parents or the adult pupil.

Pupils with specific needs (élève à besoins spécifiques, EBS) find learning harder than most pupils of the same age, or have specific deficiencies or difficulties. They cannot be cared for using the resources normally available to their teachers. They may have the benefit of specialised assistance and support measures, proposed according to their individual needs. A pupil's specific needs may concern motricity, eyesight, language and hearing, cognitive development, or behaviour.

Reasonable accommodations (aménagements raisonnables) are special measures granted to a pupil. Their aim is to adapt teaching and assessment methods to the pupil's needs.  They make it easier for the pupil to assimilate the subjects taught and do better in assessment tests. They may include, for example, rearranging the classroom, presenting questionnaires differently, allowing more time in tests, or the use of technological aids to compensate for the pupil's deficiencies.

• Guichet.lu: Applying for reasonable accommodation

The reasonable accommodations commission's (commission des aménagements raisonnables, CAR) task is to decide on reasonable accommodations to be granted to a pupil at a secondary school. The pupil applies to the school's principal. As appropriate, the principal forwards the application to the CAR. Once the CAR has reached a decision, the principal makes sure the decision is implemented.

• Guichet.lu: Applying for reasonable accommodation

The support team for pupils with specific needs (équipe de soutien des élèves à besoins éducatifs spécifiques, ESEB) operate either within the regional directorates for primary education, or at secondary schools. They advise the teachers on dealing with pupils with specific needs, and may themselves provide ambulatory support at the school in the form of assistance in the classroom. They may draw up an initial diagnosis, in collaboration with the teachers concerned, and make sure pupils receive the assistance decided on by the relevant inclusion commission (CI) or school inclusion commission (CIS).

The school inclusion commissions (commissions d'inclusion scolaire, CIS) operate in secondary education. They define the way pupils with specific needs are to be treated at secondary schools.  The CIS generally operate on the basis of a request from either the parents, or an adult pupil, or the head teacher (régent de classe) or school principal with the parents' or adult pupil's agreement. If necessary, they instruct the school's ESEB team to draw up a comprehensive diagnosis. If appropriate, they decide, with the parents' or adult pupil's agreement, to forward the pupil's file to the national inclusion commission (CNI) for a diagnosis and specialised care.

• Members of the CIS in the secondary schools: Arrêté ministériel du 17 mars 2020 portant nomination des membres des commissions d’inclusion scolaire de l’enseignement secondaire

Specialised ambulatory intervention (intervention spécialisée ambulatoire, ISA) involve specialised services provided by the competence centres for pupils with specific needs. It takes place in the classroom at an primary or secondary school, in addition to the measures set up in the (secondary) school. Specialists from the competence centres work in close collaboration with the (secondary) school's staff.

Specialised care covers all the intervention provided by a competence centre for a pupil with specific needs. Specialised care may be organised:

• exclusively in an primary or secondary school or at a competence centre, or
• simultaneously and complementarily in an primary or secondary school and at a competence centre.

It may take the form of specialised ambulatory intervention (ISA), special schooling, or a learning workshop.

A specialised diagnosis makes it possible to identify exactly the pupil's specific needs and decide which assistance and support measures match these needs. Specialised diagnoses are carried out under the responsibility of the competence centres for specialised psycho-educational follow-up.

Special schooling refers to the specialised care of a pupil with specific needs in a class at a competence centre, or simultaneously and complementarily in a class at an primary or secondary school and in a class at a competence centre.

Specialized teachers for pupils with special educational needs (instituteurs spécialisés dans la prise en charge des élèves à besoins éducatifs spécifiques, I-EBS) are directly allocated to elementary schools. This means they are one of the primary contacts for the pupils with specific needs, their parents, the class teachers and the educational teams. They may assist the pupils in the classroom, and work closely with the members of the ESEB teams and the inclusion commissions.