ECHTERNACH – Launched in 2019 in the east of the country, the ‘Super senior’ intergenerational self-help project run by the Equal Opportunities Movement is covering more and more municipalities.
‘We have 44 active seniors, and 137 children have already been helped’, says Aurélia Pattou, director of the Mouvement pour l’égalité des chances ASBL (MEC). Since 2019, the association has been running a project in which senior citizens help young pupils with French, German, maths, etc. Initially, the ‘Super senio r’ project was launched in the east of the country, in the Mullerthal and then the Luxembourg Moselle. It has since spread to Strassen, Junglinster… And it will continue to grow, extending to the canton of Redange, covering around ten communes, as well as Merzig, Colmar-Berg and Bissen.
‘In Beckerich alone, we have 230 children at school,’ points out the municipality’s mayor, Thierry Lagoda, who wanted to bring the project here. ‘We have needs in our region for this kind of educational support. I’ve heard positive things about this initiative. We asked the school presidents what they thought of it and got unanimously positive feedback’.
‘Always in need of new seniors’
The local authorities and the MEC have therefore agreed to launch ‘Super Seniors’ in the west of the country. But to do this, they will need to train pensioners who are willing to help children. The aim is to launch the scheme in January 2023. ‘We could also imagine a synergy with the senior clubs to do a bit of promotion’ and facilitate recruitment.
Senior citizens interested in tutoring can write to the MEC and send a covering letter, CV and police record. They will then be tested in the subjects for which they have applied, and interviewed before being offered a course. After three years in operation, the system is well established. ‘We still need new senior citizens, and the demand is there,’ says Aurélia Pattou. ‘We hope to develop the project further because we believe in it, we’ve had positive feedback and we want as many children as possible to be able to benefit from it. The senior-child association is a winning combination’.
See the original article : https://www.lessentiel.lu/fr/
Contact : info@mecasbl.lu
