Education: The Spanish Government Plans To Fix Poor Reading And Maths Levels In Spanish Schools

If you’re thinking of moving to Spain with your family then you’ll have more to think about that sun, sea, and sangria. You’ll also need to consider schooling.  Education standards in Spain are good and in the most popular ex-pat areas you’ll find a huge number of international schools too.

But in the latest international PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) rankings the academic levels of Spanish school children have fallen slightly. As a result the Spanish government has announced new plans to increase levels of reading comprehension and maths skills for school children across the country.

Here’s what you need to know about these plans and how they might impact your children they live and attend school in Spain:

Why Are The Spanish Government Making Changes In Schools?

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez recently announced new changes to improve standards within the Spanish educational system. These announcements were made at an event in A Coruna last weekend. As part of his speech Mr Sanchez outlined that Spain's Ministry of Education, headed by Pilar Alegría, is committing to a 'reinforcement plan' to improve maths skills and reading comprehension among Spanish students.

As already mentioned above in the latest PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) report compiled by the OECD Spanish students had slipped down the rankings and it was found that reading and maths skills in the country had also declined since the last report was released.

The proposed changes to remedy this will be supported by a budget of just over €500 million and will benefit 4.7 million children across schools in Spain.

Who Will Be Impacted?

The new focus on literacy and maths school will primarily impact school pupils across eight school years in Spain. The children targeted will be those from the 3^rd year of primary school ll the way up to the 4^th ESO. This is the final year of secondary school before children can either begin vocational training or choose to study to prepare for their entrance to university.

In his speech Mr Sanchez stated "We are not going to stop, especially in education. In these times in which we find ourselves, it is important that we are aware, in the light of the OECD reports, that despite the efforts of students and teachers, there are subjects that are difficult to crack. And that's why the government is going to make a plan for all the young people who are studying in our country today."

What Are The New Changes That Will Be Introduced?

The exactly outline of these new educational changes has not been released yet but Mr Sanchez has said that the government will work closely with teachers and everyone working within the educational community to ensure that goals are valuable and realistic.

What we do know is that schools in Spain will be focused on ensuring that all of their pupils spend enough time studying maths and reading skills.

The government also intends to reduce the number of students per classroom in maths classes during school hours. At present there is an average of  pupils per maths class in Spanish schools but this figure will be reduced to around 12 or 14 per class.  Funds will also be allocated to ensure that extra teachers can be made available to support students having difficulties, and a teacher training plan will be implemented to help teachers improve their maths lessons.

Are There Any Flaws With This Plan?

Although all of the details of this new education plan hasn’t been released yet, Spain's opposition, the Partido Popular (PP) has responded to the plans by criticising what they have called the shortcomings of the education system.

Are you thinking of moving to Spain? Perhaps your family is looking for a new and exciting change, or you’re hoping to retire to somewhere sunny? Then why not get in touch with our locally based property experts. We’re perfectly placed to help you find the Spanish home of your dreams.