A day in the life of a Maison Relais

Tuesday morning, 07.00 a.m. Parents drop off their children at the Maison Relais Papillon before heading off to work. As in all other neighbourhoods of Esch/Alzette, there is a collection point for children in the "Quartier" Dellhéicht before school starts. With more than 37.000 inhabitants, the city now has 18 Maison Relais – more are already planned. Nearly two thirds of all school-age children between four and twelve in the southern municipality attend a daycare centre.

11.30 a.m.: The calm before the storm

The Journal has an appointment at the Maison Relais Bei de Pompjeeën. The former fire station was renovated and expanded at a cost of around 14 million euros. This example shows that Luxembourg is paying a lot for the massive expansion of its childcare infrastructure. Bright, fully equipped rooms with customised wooden furniture, a rooftop terrace for gardening activities, toilets on all floors. A theatre room with costumes for dressing up; a small library with magazines and books, a chill-out room filled with large cushions; a workshop stocked with saws, files, screwdrivers and workbenches. Everything is in place to give educational staff every opportunity to offer the children experiences in the seven fields of action of the national educational framework plan for non-formal education (see info box) – and thus support them in their personal development.