Towards 11 new secondary schools by 2050, with more than 17 infrastructure projects already planned

On 14 April 2026, the Minister of Education, Children and Youth, Claude Meisch, and the Minister for Mobility and Public Works, Yuriko Backes, informed Members of Parliament of the progress made on preparatory work for the development of a new sectoral plan for secondary schools looking ahead to 2050. They also presented a new joint acceleration plan by the Ministry of Education, Children and Youth and the Ministry for Mobility and Public Works for the delivery of new school infrastructure, during a joint parliamentary committee meeting bringing together the committees on Education, Children and Youth, Mobility and Public Works, and Housing and Spatial Planning.

The ministers recalled that investment in education and in infrastructure for children and young people is among the national priorities, in line with the Government Programme 2023–2028. In the context of sustained demographic growth, Luxembourg must anticipate future educational needs today in order to continue guaranteeing equitable access for all to high-quality education provision in every region of the country.

Accessible education provision across all regions

In this context, the sectoral plan for secondary schools remains a key strategic instrument for anticipating infrastructure needs in secondary education and ensuring long-term planning.

Based on demographic projections by STATEC, the new sectoral plan will aim to anticipate changes in the school population up to 2050 and thereby address the need to increase capacity in secondary education. From an equal opportunities perspective, it will also seek to ensure accessible education provision in all regions of the country, so that every pupil can pursue their chosen educational pathway without having to undertake long journeys.

In addition, this spatial planning approach aims to improve the organisation of mobility by locating schools in alignment with existing transport networks and promoting more sustainable solutions. It will also enable the early reservation of the necessary land, in cooperation with the municipalities concerned, in order to ensure the feasibility of future projects.

As part of the work on the sectoral plan, Minister Claude Meisch specified that the phase of identifying potential sites has begun, following which environmental assessments will be carried out. Once completed, the formal procedure for adopting the sectoral plan can be launched. Its entry into force is scheduled for 2028.

Balanced distribution: 11 new secondary schools in the long term

The consultation phase, carried out in cooperation with STATEC, made it possible to identify the regions where school provision will need to be strengthened. On this basis, the creation of 11 new secondary schools nationwide is planned in order to respond to demographic growth and prevent a shortage of places.

These new schools will be distributed in a balanced manner across the different regions of the country:

• Éislek region: 1 new secondary school
• Greater Centre region: 1 new secondary school
• Southern region: 4 new secondary schools
• Jonglenster and surrounding area, Müllerthal, Moselle and surrounding northern area: 2 new secondary schools
• Mersch and surrounding area: 1 new secondary school
• Moselle and surrounding southern area: 1 new secondary school
• Steinfort and surrounding area: 1 new secondary school (see map: Annex 1)

An acceleration plan covering 17 infrastructure projects, representing an investment of €1.9 billion in the short and medium term

Alongside this long-term planning, investments in a range of school infrastructure projects are planned in the short and medium term in order to meet immediate capacity needs in secondary education. To ensure effective implementation, these projects are based on coordinated management between the Ministry of Education, Children and Youth and the Ministry for Mobility and Public Works, ensuring overall coherence.

In the short term, temporary modular structures will be installed on several existing sites in order to rapidly increase the number of available places.

In the medium term, several new construction and extension projects will enable a sustainable increase in capacity and improve the educational provision at regional level.

In total, 17 construction or extension projects are planned to meet short- and medium-term needs.

The total estimated cost of all current projects, including those under the acceleration plan and representing approximately 500,000 m² of new floor space, is currently estimated at around €3.1 billion. (The cost of projects still in the planning phase has not yet been determined.) Several projects will make use of alternative financing and delivery methods in order to achieve the objectives set out in the coalition agreement.

During the committee meeting, it was recalled that the construction of public infrastructure, including school buildings, falls under the responsibility of the Public Buildings Administration, under the authority of the Ministry for Mobility and Public Works. In accordance with the coalition agreement, the Ministry of Education, Children and Youth is granted greater autonomy in the management of smaller-scale projects, such as maintenance, conversion and renovation works.

All these new infrastructures will meet clearly defined standards and will, at a later stage, be integrated into the assets managed by the Public Buildings Administration.

Information on the current secondary school estate and developments over the past five years

At present, the property portfolio allocated to the Ministry of Education, Children and Youth for secondary schools, and managed by the Public Buildings Administration, comprises schools across 65 sites, with a total gross floor area of approximately 1,220,000 m².

Over the past five years, 19 projects relating to this portfolio have been completed, representing a total investment of €663,630,000. Of these, 11 projects created new floor space, providing nearly 170,000 m² of additional gross area, corresponding to an increase of approximately 16% of the total surface area over the period concerned.

Furthermore, 12 sites were equipped with modular constructions over the same period.

Press release by the Ministry of Education, Children and Youth, the Ministry for Mobility and Public Works, the Ministry of Housing and Spatial Planning