Allowing our students to travel abroad provides them with the opportunity of discerning different methods in production, ways of approaching work patterns and discovering different cultures. Their linguistic knowledge can thereby be deepened and relationships with the companies they work for strengthened. Digitalisation in the educational world has taken precedence and students need to adapt to an ever-changing professional world and its requirements. Internship-trainees must travel abroad to enhance their linguistic skills. A thorough command of French is of capital importance as it is one of the official administrative languages of Luxembourg and the language most often used when dealing with the country’s administrations. Some students only barely know, some not at all, our European partner countries, therefore exhibit prejudice against these countries. The immersion into another country and another culture favours their attitude towards open-mindedness and increases tolerance when faced with ‘the foreign’.
The Lycée Technique Agricole (LTA) has organised internships abroad and has taken part in a series of programs and international exchanges for more than 30 years, including participation within the EUROPEA network (Europe de l’enseignement agronomique). A significant number of our teachers participate in further education programs on a yearly basis abroad and show high levels of motivation and flexibility during their journeys. The curriculum of the 3 departments (agriculture, forestry/environment and horticulture) includes an obligatory ‘internship abroad’ which happens during the students’ second or third year. Some students decide to further their studies by conducting another internship outside the school year, during vacation time or at the end of their formal education, as some of our most recent graduates have. In order to fully support these types of activities, the head of the LTA and the internship bureau have decided to join Erasmus+.