Raymond Meyers

Mental health (GHQ12; CES-D) and attitudes towards the value of work among inmates of a semi-open prison and the long-term unemployed in Luxembourg

AimTo analyse the relationships between mental health and employment commitment among prisoners and the long-term unemployed (LTU) trying to return to work.MethodFifty-two of 62 male inmates of a semi-open prison (Givenich Penitentiary Centre, the only such unit in Luxembourg), and 69 LTU registered at the Luxembourg Employment Administration completed a questionnaire exploring: 1) mental health (measured by means of scales GHQ12 and CES-D); 2) employment commitment; 3) availability of a support network, self-esteem, empowerment; and 4) socio-demographic characteristics.ResultsCompared with LTU, inmates were younger, more had work experience (54.9% vs 26.1%), and more were educated to only a low level (71.1% vs 58.0%). The link between employment commitment and mental health in the LTU was the opposite of that seen among the prisoners: the more significant the perceived importance of employment, the worse the mental health (GHQ12 p = 0.003; CES-D p < 0.001) of the LTU; in contrast, among prisoners, the GHQ12 showed that the greater the perceived value of work, the lower the psychic distress (p = 0.012). Greater empowerment was associated with less depression in both populations. The education levels of people who did not reach the end of secondary school, whether inmates or LTU, were negatively linked with their mental equilibrium.ConclusionThe two groups clearly need professional support. Future research should further investigate the link between different forms of professional help and mental health. Randomized controlled trials could be carried out in both groups, with interventions to improve work commitment for prisoners and to help with getting a job for LTU. For those LTU who value employment but cannot find it, the best help may be psychological support.

Strategies and perspectives of school actors during a reform of vocational training in Luxembourg

Since 2008, a reform of vocational training is being implemented in the upper level of secondary education in Luxembourg. The new method consists of: (1) teaching through competencies; (2) modular training where modules can be repeated until they are achieved; and (3) evaluation which has been changed from quantitative to qualitative. The reform continues to face ongoing challenges and resistance from the different actors involved in vocational training. Semi‐structured interviews were carried out with the relevant actors in order to analyse their strategies and perspectives during and after the reform: representatives of the Ministry of Education, teaching staff, school administrations, enterprises, parents, and pupils. A heuristic model of resistance to change in education was constructed, based on these interviews. A general fatigue with the reform has spread; and this is at a moment when the Ministry wants to implement new changes to the aforementioned law. In order to make the reform viable, a new negotiated agreement based on the interests of the different players should be achieved.

Competences as seen by teachers and employers in an initial vocational training reform

Luxembourg has a dual system of initial vocational training, inspired by the German model, where training takes place alternately in enterprises as well as in schools. Since 2008, a competence-based reform of vocational training is being implemented in the upper level of secondary education in Luxembourg. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with the relevant actors to analyse their strategies and perspectives during and after the reform. It appears that one major difficulty in the implementation of the reform is the difference between schools’ and enterprises’ understanding of what competence-based training is. The majority of teaching staff disagreed with training through competences as it was considered a more difficult and less manageable approach for them than the previous knowledge-based methods. When they adopt the prescribed approach albeit reluctantly, they often attribute it a meaning which is mostly school-based, where competences are seen as skills in exercises based on books and programs and not in professional situations. Enterprises were in favour of curricula based on competences, as they are more suited to the practical work expected in the professional domain. Pupils are confronted directly with practical professional situations at the workplace, but enterprises have problems in implementing explicit, systematic and progressive modular training. Coordination between these two main actors in the training system is poor and problematic; especially with regards to collaboration within the curriculum teams that are expected to develop and update the training modules. A general fatigue with the reform has spread, even if most actors agree, at least verbally, with its general philosophy; and this at a moment when the Ministry wants to implement new changes to the law. In order to make the reform viable, a newly negotiated agreement based on the interests of the different players, especially between enterprises and schools, should be achieved.